


Married at First Sight

by aj_hofacre, lydiamartin (dwinchester)



Category: Married at First Sight (TV), Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, just assume that Stuart doesn't have the same face as Stiles here, married at first sight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-11 15:21:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 40,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7897798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aj_hofacre/pseuds/aj_hofacre, https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwinchester/pseuds/lydiamartin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has their own reasons for signing up for this, but not everyone plans on even trying to make it work beyond six weeks. </p>
<p>What happens next will be up to you, the reader.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day One: Getting Ready

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't an accurate portrayal of how Married at First Sight works, but we're modifying things to make them more interesting.

Stiles adjusted his tie, even though his bride-to-be, whoever she was, wouldn’t see him until after they had said their vows. She would be stuck with him, then. But he didn’t want to start off making her feel like she had made a bad decision, signing herself up for this. He stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the wall, glancing at the other grooms. He had worried that he might be the youngest person chosen by the network, but a few of the other guys seemed to be his age. At twenty-two, he probably hadn’t needed to humiliate himself for a syndicated tv series this way, but he had his college degree and wasn’t needed at the station for another few months, and it seemed like a good way to earn some money in the meantime. He smirked to himself as he thought about the fact that he hadn’t really dated in a while, anyway. One ex-girlfriend and he was resorting to this. In his defense, she had wrecked him emotionally. It also didn’t hurt that he wasn’t going through this alone. He nodded to Scott, his best friend since birth. Or close enough to it, anyway. “Hey.” 

Scott smiled nervously, nodding back at Stiles. “Hey, man.” He said softly. “Remind me why this was a good idea again?”

“Because the women we’re about to marry look good on tv?” Stiles smiled. “And because we suck at finding relationships on our own.” He gestured to a blonde man standing on the other side of the room. “He’s probably got a repulsive personality.” 

“I can _hear_ you, you dickbag.” Jackson snapped, snarling at Stiles.

Scott pressed his lips together and ducked his head, letting out a little snigger of laughter.

“Oh good, I was right.” Stiles replied, grinning at Jackson. “I bet you’ll be divorced when this is all over.” 

Jackson snorted. “I bet the poor unfortunate match you got will turn tail and run the minute she gets a look at you.” He shot back.

“Okay.” Stiles said calmly. “A thousand dollars says I have a marriage that lasts longer than yours.” 

“I don’t think your wives will appreciate you making a bet like this.” Danny spoke up as he walked toward them. “Besides, I’m most likely going to be the first one divorced, anyway.” 

“Why’s that?” Stiles asked, but to his disappointment, the other man shook his head as a producer opened the door to tell the guys that it was time for them to get married. Each of them was going to be filmed in a different room, so that all of the ceremonies could take place at the same time. He was a little upset that of all things, Scott wouldn’t be his best man, and vice versa. But he knew that it didn’t matter that much, anyway. 

“Jesus god, this is nerve-wracking.” Scott blurted, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “I feel like I’m gonna scream.”

“Save it for tonight.” Stiles laughed. “Seriously, you’ll be okay.” He hugged his best friend as the other guys left the room. “And you can call me, okay? I don’t know when we’ll see each other next. Other than on Skype.” 

Scott nodded shakily, smiling back at Stiles and hugging him back tightly. “Hopefully soon, either way.” He said, and gestured, heading for the door as he did so.

**

Malia watched all of the other girls practically floating around in their wedding dresses. She tugged at hers and growled, wishing she at least had some shorts or jeans, instead. Getting married in a white dress was stupid, and she didn’t want to be here. But when her Aunt Talia had heard about the casting call, she had practically shoved all of the single Hales into a car together and made them sign themselves up. Somehow, the producers had decided that they loved the idea of relatives being on the show together, so they offered her, Cora and Derek everything they could possibly want. Or at least, they tried. Malia hadn’t managed to convince them to let her have her ceremony on a nude beach. She hated clothes, in general. 

Lydia eyed Malia warily, feeling sorry for whoever the brunette was about to marry. “I’m Lydia.” She held her hand out. “You look like you don’t want to be here.” 

“I don’t want to be here.” Malia agreed. “But my cousins and I got stuck doing this. My aunt threatened to disinherit all of us if we didn’t do it. I don’t know if she was serious, but I’ve learned not to test her. I just wish this stupid gown wasn’t so tight and itchy.” She tugged at the material again and groaned. “I hate it.” 

Lydia smiled. “So tear it a little. I know you have claws, you can do that.” 

“Okay, but how do you know?” Malia demanded. She ripped a slit in the side of the skirt, shrugging to herself when it ended up jagged. 

“You think I don’t know a werewolf when I see one?” Lydia scoffed, walking away to finish doing her makeup. 

“Hi.” Kira grinned at Malia. “I’m a kitsune.” 

Malia snorted. “Good for you?” 

Allison’s head jerked up, and she pressed her lips together. “Is this,” she waved her hand around at Malia, gesturing at all of her, “just, like, your attitude? Because if it is, I think you need to call whatever factory popped you out. Pretty sure you’re defective.” She snapped, putting a hand on Kira’s shoulder.

Cora snorted from her position in the corner, her feet thrown up on top of the chairs. She’d threatened the stylists with clawed throats if they’d even tried to take her combat boots away from her in exchange for dainty little heels, and now the boots were proudly sticking out from under the long white dress they’d forced her into. “You can calm down, Princess. That’s just Malia. She’s like that with everyone, including her own family.” She kicked a foot out at her cousin, smirking.

“Well, at least people will be entertained when they see her.” Lydia murmured. 

“Or super irritated.” Allison scoffed.

“Seriously?” Erica blurted, staring around at them. “How are you guys not freaking out about this thing we’re about to do? Hello? We’re getting married. To people we don’t know. I don’t know about you, but this is my first marriage, and this totally wasn’t how I was expecting it to happen!” She sat down and put her face in her hands.

“Then why are you here?” Lydia sat down by Erica. “It’s not like they pulled you in off the street, you had to know what you were getting into.” 

Erica looked up at Lydia. “I got bribed. Basically. My mom found out about the payout. She told me to go to the auditions and said that if I didn’t do all I could to come back as part of the line-up, I could kiss my house goodbye. She threatened to sell my clothes, my books, withdraw me from college, withdraw any attempt at financial aid I might try to get - I don’t even know how she would have tried to pull it off, but she - I wouldn’t put it past her. She would have made my life utterly miserable if I hadn’t come here and done this.”

“Well, this is great.” Lydia said dryly. “I’m stuck in a room with Cinderella and Snow White.” She smiled softly at Erica. “That’s not bribery, sweetheart. That’s extortion. The best payback is for you to have a great marriage to someone amazing and tell her to go screw herself.” 

Erica snorted. “And if the guy I end up with isn’t amazing?” She asked, her voice soft.

Allison sat down next to her, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Then… it’s only for a few weeks. If it doesn’t work out, you can file for an annulment.” She paused, glancing at Lydia. “We can, right?”

“Not an annulment, but a divorce.” Lydia explained. “They make us stay married long enough that it has to be a divorce.” She glanced up, trying not to look guilty as someone opened the door and told them it was time to go.


	2. Wedding: Stiles and Cora

Stiles was blindfolded as soon as he left the room, then guided down a hallway and into another room. He could hear the minister clearing his throat, and he spoke softly, even though he probably wasn’t supposed to. “My mom always swore by peppermint tea with honey and lemon, for a sore throat.” 

The minister smiled faintly. “Thank you for the advice.” He said. “But if you could, please, I’m about to start.”

“Oh sure, yeah.” Stiles grinned, anxious all of a sudden to hear his bride’s voice. 

“While I find this to be unprecedented, I believe that God has brought you two together on this day. He gives us each lessons, sometimes ones we must struggle with. But in this, the two of you will walk together and help each other in difficult times.” The minister cleared his throat again. “Do you, Cora Hale, take Meesh- Meeyet? I am so sorry, sir.” 

Stiles laughed. “Just use my nickname. Stiles.”

“Do you, Cora Hale, take Stiles Stilinski to be your lawfully-wedded husband? Do you pledge to honor and cherish him, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, as long as you both shall live?”

Cora practically vibrated in place impatiently, and refrained from the urge to tear at her own dress, like her cousin had been doing before they'd been separated. It wasn't common among a lot of werewolves, but a majority of them did hate wearing clothes. Derek dealt with it by stripping his shirt off any chance he got. Cora tended to use clothes to her advantage, showing off tantalizing strips of bare skin beneath barely there scraps of cloth. Malia would set fire to the clothing industry and run around naked if she had the choice. When her mother had ousted them and had them sign their contracts, she'd been wary, but moderately excited. It wasn't as though she didn't want to be in a relationship - she did. But most people tended to shy away from her once they realized how foul-mouthed and blunt she could be. So when the minister asked, she forced herself to reply calmly and not at all like she was preparing to lunge. “I do.” The words still shot out rapidly. 

Stiles smiled as he agreed to the same vows, a moment later. Their ceremony was short, but he was grateful for that. He wondered if the producers had taken his ADHD into account when finding someone to perform the ceremony, or if Cora had the same problem he did. He thought she might, but he wasn’t going to ask her outright. 

Cora kept fidgeting, right up until they finally pulled the blindfold off of her. She blinked rapidly, letting her vision come into focus, and she stared at Stiles for a long moment, her mouth slightly open. “Uh. Hey.”

“Hi.” Stiles laughed a little. “Um, is it okay if I kiss you? I mean, it’s a traditional thing, but we don’t have to.” 

“Yeah, no. I mean. Yeah. It’s okay.” Cora nodded. “Normally I buck traditional crap.” She lifted the end of her dress and showed off her boots, then shrugged, dropping the fabric back to the ground. “But, uh. I don’t think I’d mind.”

“Oh, yeah. Me too.” Stiles kissed Cora softly, pulling back to look at her as he kept speaking. “Like that whole... I’m not religious. Like, at all. Talking about God bringing us together is weird. God didn’t hand me the pen to sign the contract.” He snorted. 

Cora made a face, waving her hand. “Screw that. I’m not religious either, I don’t believe in a magic man in the sky bringing me together with my one true mate or whatever.” She hesitated, then put her hand on the back of his head and tugged him in for another short kiss. 

Stiles flailed a little, putting his hands on her waist as he kissed back. “Okay, so. This is good. I’m good with this.” 

Cora grinned against his mouth. “I think I’m good with this, too.”


	3. Wedding: Theo and Erica

Theo scratched his nose, even though it wasn’t itchy, in an effort to peer out from under the blindfold and see the woman he was marrying. When Jackson had suggested this, Theo had hesitated for a few days at the idea of filling out a lengthy questionnaire and having his personality dissected. By the time he decided he might as well agree to it and enjoy the ride, Jackson had already convinced Danny that it was a great idea. Danny, who was gayer than Theo and would be lying through his teeth to get on the show, if he decided to follow through. The thought made Theo snort in derision as he remembered potential contestants in San Francisco leaving in waves, until there were only five of them called back for some final questions. When the men that Theo didn’t know, didn’t care to know, backed out of signing the contract? He heard the producers lamenting about needing to go to yet another California town to look for someone else. 

“Instead of traditional vows, I thought we’d go with something a little more amusing.” The minister told Theo and Erica. He had already allowed the photographer to take pictures of the two of them, blindfolded and smiling at each other, even though they didn’t know it yet. “So when I ask you each to take your turn, I want you to say three things you vow to do for your spouse. Okay?” 

Theo nodded, thinking quickly. He knew that the objective was to be funny, but somewhere between question ninety-eight and posing for promotional pictures, he had started to take this whole thing seriously. He hoped that his wife, whatever her name was, felt the same way. 

Erica could feel herself tense a little. She didn't even have the slightest idea what she could promise to do for a man she'd never met. She bit her lower lip, trying to keep herself from shaking. 

“On this day, two people have chosen to make a commitment to one another. They have elected to provide vows of their own, to guarantee that they make their relationship as personal, and as heartfelt, as possible. Theo, you may begin.” 

Theo took a deep breath. “I vow to treat you as an equal in our home, Erica. I vow to be honest, and to...” He felt embarrassed as his mind went blank and he couldn’t remember the third thing that was important to him. “I vow to listen.” 

Erica bit her lower lip. “I - I vow to… to be there when you need me. I vow - to never take you for granted.” She swallowed and shut her eyes, even though she couldn’t see anyway, trying to think of what was important to her, and what she’d want someone else to do for her. She relaxed a little and exhaled. “I vow to always make you smile.”

Theo felt relieved that Erica’s vows weren’t silly remarks about credit cards or doing the dishes, like he had feared. He removed his blindfold a moment later, feeling nervous that she wouldn’t like him, or wouldn’t be attracted to him. 

Erica swallowed and hesitantly reached up to tug off her blindfold, lifting her head to look at Theo. She gave him a tiny, weak smile. “Hi.” She said softly.

“Hey.” Theo put his hands on Erica’s shoulders and pulled her close, kissing her. 

Erica closed her eyes, bracing her hands on his chest and kissing him back softly.

Theo glanced at Erica as he stopped to breathe, looking at her. “Are you okay?” 

Erica lifted her eyes to study his face, taking in his features, and she smiled at him a little crookedly. “Yeah. I think I am.”


	4. Wedding: Danny and Lydia

Danny wiped his sweating palms on his pants, frowning. He wasn’t allowed to back out now, he had signed a contract saying he would get married and stay married for six weeks. He kept reminding himself that being on a nationally-televised tv series would be good for him, would be free advertising for his business. It was a small internet start-up, but there were thousands of those. He just wasn’t sure this had been the right plan. A million people might hate him for lying to his wife. 

Lydia kept a smile on her face as she was guided down the aisle to the man she was marrying. This was the last thing she would have ever seen herself doing. She prided herself on order and perfection, and marrying a stranger was completely removed from that. But six weeks of marriage, and a pay rate of twenty thousand dollars per episode, would give her the money she needed to get her doctorate and buy a house of her own. She had no silly delusions that this marriage was going to last beyond that. She didn’t need it to. 

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join Daniel and Lydia in matrimony, commended to be honorable among all; and therefore is not to be entered into lightly but reverently, passionately, lovingly and solemnly. Into this - these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together - let them speak now or forever hold their peace.” The officiant paused as though he expected an interjection. 

Under the blindfold, Lydia rolled her eyes. The producers obviously weren’t going to object to the wedding, they needed the ratings to keep their show on the air and money in their pockets. She listened as the man performing the ceremony kept speaking, saying her vows as she was prompted to do so. She wished he had gone with anything else - how was she expected to pledge to love a complete stranger?

The ceremony was nearly over, and Danny was instructed to remove his blindfold, along with his bride, Lydia. He blinked at the sudden onslaught of light in his eyes, but he couldn’t help feeling relieved that the woman he had just agreed to marry was someone who looked like she took care of herself. He wouldn’t have too much guilt when the six weeks were over, and so was their marriage. He leaned in hesitantly to kiss her lightly when he was told to. 

Lydia stared blankly at Danny. She didn’t understand how the producers had missed the fact that her husband was gay, but she was relieved that this person wouldn’t be constantly bugging her for sex. She tilted her head as she openly studied him, as the crew around them started to remove lighting and equipment. “I’m not taking your last name.” She said abruptly. 

Danny laughed. “That’s okay. I didn’t expect you to.”


	5. Wedding: Derek and Kira

Kira felt nervous and thought she might throw up as she was guided into position at the altar. She was probably the only contestant whose dad had insisted on actually walking her down the aisle, then staying for the ceremony and signing the form as a witness. It was embarrassing. 

“You look beautiful.” Ken called out to his daughter, taking a few more pictures of her. He had read over every clause in the contract before he let Kira sign it, determined to make sure she wasn’t signing away rights that she shouldn’t give up. 

“Dad, stop.” Kira blurted. “Please? I’m already humiliated enough as it is.” 

Derek stretched his hands out with guidance to take Kira’s, smiling faintly at her father’s words. He'd never expected himself to be in a situation like this, but he found that the unexpectedness of it appealed to him. At heart, he was a romantic, and the thought of possibly lifting his blindfold and meeting someone he could cherish made him all the more eager to take part in the ceremony. “You shouldn't be.” He whispered to her. “I think everything is going to work out okay.”

Kira smiled hesitantly. “I hope you’re right.” She blurted. “But I already tripped twice coming in here.” She laughed, horrified at herself. “Anyway, um. It’s nice to meet you? Even though we haven’t actually met yet. Face to face.” 

Derek laughed softly. “We will soon enough.” He reassured her. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

Kira stood up straight as the ceremony officially started, sighing in relief when the vows were traditional instead of something she was expected to come up with, on her own. It made her calmer to know that the relationship was starting off in a more hopeful way instead of an intimidating one. And when the vows were over and she removed her blindfold, she stared at her husband, too awestruck to say much of anything. The only thing that came to mind was... “Wow. Oh my god. Hi.” 

Derek grinned, letting out another laugh. “Hi.” He told her, and squeezed her hands. He ducked his head slowly, giving her enough time to back away.

Kira closed the distance between them, kissing Derek gently. She was sure that she was blushing when she pulled away a moment later. “Nice to meet you. I said that already, didn’t I? Damn it.” 

Derek ducked his head, laughing, and wrapped his arm around her. “You did, but it’s okay. I think it’s very nice to meet you, too.”


	6. Wedding: Scott and Malia

Malia was only halfway listening to the vows, just a little curious to know the name of the guy she was marrying. Once she knew it was Scott McCall, she tuned the officiant out and had to be reminded twice that it was her turn to say her vows. She got through them without actually ripping the woman apart, so she counted it as a success. She took her blindfold off when she was told to, eyeing Scott as she tried to determine his weak spots. Just in case. 

Scott swallowed, staring at Malia. He wasn’t sure what this whole experience was going to be like, but even just hearing Malia having to be reminded to participate made him wonder if this was worth it at all. Did his wife even want to get married? Had he just been trapped in a marriage with someone who was going to make him depressed and sad and miserable for six weeks? He cleared his throat and looked down a little. “Hi.” He said quietly.

“Hey.” Malia murmured. She leaned in to kiss him quickly, then glanced around, not sure what to do next. He was acting like a scared rabbit and it was annoying her. She had hoped that the guy she was stuck with would at least be more assertive. 

Scott’s shoulders slumped a little, and he sighed. Clearly, his marriage had gotten off to a great start. His own wife couldn’t even stand to look at him. Looking at one of the producers, he raised his eyebrows expectantly. “So, now what?”

“Now you all meet up in the lobby.” The producer gestured toward the front of the church.


	7. Wedding: Jackson and Allison

Allison hated the blindfold. Hated. It. She was so ready to rip it off. Her competitive streak was trying to take over, and her mind was going a million thoughts a minute as she tried to recall what was expected of her and her new husband, and how they could get ahead of the other couples and win. She wasn’t interested in romance, or one-true love. She was here to win, and she expected her partner - husband - to act the same way.

Jackson licked his lips, exhaling slowly as the minister finished speaking, then tugged his blindfold off to take a look at Allison, his lips curving into a slow smile. She was prettier than he was anticipating, and his mind was already jumping ahead to the wedding night. When she took off her blindfold and looked at him, he darted forward and kissed her.

Allison let out an outraged noise and bit down on Jackson’s lower lip, pulling away and looking infuriated. She turned and stomped down the aisle.

Jackson rubbed at his bruised lower lip, and let out a laugh before following her.


	8. Day One: Competition

“This competition determines where you go on your honeymoon.” The producer explained. “You both have to run a lap around the church, but not until after you’ve answered this question.” She smiled at the twelve blindfolded people in front of her, even though they couldn’t see her do it. “What color are your spouse’s eyes? Get it right, you have thirty seconds taken off your time. Get it wrong, we’ll add thirty seconds. And the times will be the average between your score and your significant other’s. The couple with the fastest time will get first pick at a honeymoon destination. One more thing? You have to stay blindfolded during this run.” 

Kira whimpered. “Derek, I’m not going to make it.” 

Derek squeezed her hand. “You can.” He told her gently. “I’ll be right there with you.”

“Blue.” Allison muttered stiffly, her arms folded across her chest.

The producer noted Allison’s correct answer. “Anyone else want to guess now?” 

“I don’t have to guess.” Stiles spoke up, clearing his throat. “I know. Cora’s eyes are brown.” 

Cora grinned over in his direction. “Stiles’ eyes are brown, too. Lighter than mine.”

“Brown.” Scott said softly. “Malia’s eyes are brown.”

Jackson shifted awkwardly. “Uh. Blue?”

Allison grit her teeth together.

“Scott’s eyes are brown, too.” Malia nudged Allison. “I can hear your teeth grinding.” 

“Good for you,” Allison snapped.

Derek turned his head toward Kira. “Brown eyes.” He smiled.

“Aww.” Kira blurted. “Um. Derek’s eyes are weird. Oh god, not weird. Just... hard to say what color. Can I say hazel? They’re green and blue and brown, and gold. All at once.” 

“I’ll count that as correct.” The producer murmured. 

“Danny’s eyes are brown, too.” Lydia spoke up, already bored with the drama unfolding around her. 

“Lydia’s eyes are gray.” Danny said confidently. 

“Lydia, correct. Danny, wrong answer.” The producer noted their responses. “Erica and Theo are the only ones left, now.” 

“Thank you, Danny.” Lydia muttered. 

“Light brown.” Theo said quietly, hoping he wasn’t wrong. The lights had been pretty bright and they could have made Erica’s eyes look different. 

Erica ducked her head, smiling softly. “Light blue.” She added to Theo’s reply, and fumbled a little for his hand.

Theo clasped Erica’s hand in both of his. 

“It looks like we’re off to a good start.” The producer murmured. “When I say go, you have to run around the church. There are people stationed at different points around the building to help guide you if you wander off too far. Just remember that the first couple back isn’t necessarily the winning couple. One, two, three, go!” 

Lydia stepped out of her shoes and moved toward the entrance, keeping her elbows out to either side of her in case someone bumped into her and slowed her down. She wasn’t interested in running, knowing she could move at a steady pace and avoid tripping and falling. The werewolves would most likely win, anyway. Running wasn’t necessary. 

Derek moved into position, fumbling a little as he reached for Kira’s elbow, giving her another reassuring squeeze. “I’ve got your scent.” He told her. “I won’t leave you behind, and I won’t let you go off course, okay?”

“Okay.” Kira sighed in relief, moving toward the doorway with him. “Where are you from?” 

“Los Angeles. The non-seedy, non-celebrity-occupied part.” Derek clarified. “We’re not far from Claremont.”

“This is my first time out here.” Kira murmured. “I’m from San Francisco. New York City, before that.” 

“My sister lives in New York City.” Derek told her. “Astoria, I think. I haven’t been able to visit her, but she sends pictures every so often. She’s the ‘budding photographer’ in the family.” He laughed. “She loves it.”

Kira grinned, moving along with him. She listened for the other couples, hearing arguing from a few of them. “I’m glad I ended up with you. I don’t think everyone else is going to make it. I feel bad for them.” 

Derek huffed a laugh. “I’m glad I ended up with you, too. This just bodes well for the both of us, though.” He told her. “It could have ended up much, much worse. I heard that Jackson kissed Allison when she wasn’t expecting it, so she sunk her teeth into his lip.”

“I heard that Malia thinks that Scott is a weakling.” Kira murmured. “She called him a bunny.” 

Derek pressed his lips together. “Did she.” He said flatly. “I might have to have a talk with my cousin. She… tends to have high expectations. It’s not fair to some people.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you were related.” Kira felt embarrassed. “So Cora’s your sister, then?” 

“She is.” Derek confirmed. “My younger sister. She was born when I was six. Do you have any siblings?”

“No, there’s just me. Which is why my dad treats me like _I’m_ six.” Kira remarked. “Part of why I wanted to do this was... I want to get away from him and my mom. I’m glad they care about me, but it’s a little suffocating.” 

“I can understand that. Imagine if your mother was also your alpha.” Derek sighed. “She means well, but she tends to be… very strict. Case in point, the three of us ending up on this show.” He suddenly seemed to realize that they were being filmed, and that his mother would likely be watching, and he groaned. “She’s going to kick my ass.”

“I won’t let her.” Kira murmured. “Okay? You’ve been really great to me already, and that’s a big deal to me.” She was surprised when they made another turn. “I think we’re almost done, already. We’ve passed at least three people.” 

Derek listened carefully, then made a noise of agreement. “There’s at least two ahead of us, I think, but everyone else’s voices are behind us.” He grinned. “We make a good team.”

“I think so, too.” Kira smiled as someone reached out and turned them slightly, cautioning them that they were approaching the stairs back into the building. She shuffled forward carefully, then decided to be a little more impulsive, at least this once. She turned her head, kissing Derek’s shoulder. “Thank you for helping me.” 

Derek smiled and turned toward her, tilting his head down to press a kiss to her forehead. “Of course. You don’t need to thank me for that.” He fumbled for her hand, and then lifted it up to press another kiss to the back of it.

Kira was certain that she was blushing again as she and Derek were told they could once again remove their blindfolds. She was a little disappointed to see that she and Derek had come in second, since she knew that Cora and Stiles didn’t have a time penalty against them. But she nodded to both of them, anyway. “Hi.” 

Cora nodded back at them, grinning smugly at her older brother. “I always told you I was the faster one.” She goaded, poking him in the stomach.

Derek snorted, poking her back. “Brat. If you’d focused more on getting to know Stiles, like Kira and I did the whole run, you wouldn’t have won at all.”

“We have time for that later.” Stiles shrugged, then turned toward Cora and smiled. “We won.” 

Cora turned back to Stiles and crowed, laughing and jumping into his arms. “We won!”

It took a few more minutes before the other four couples returned, and the show’s host read off the times for each couple, after making adjustments. “Cora and Stiles, four minutes, five seconds. Derek and Kira, four minutes and forty seconds. Lydia and Danny, five minutes and eight seconds. Erica and Theo, five minutes and twenty-three seconds. Malia and Scott, six minutes and ten seconds. And last but not least, Allison and Jackson with seven minutes and five seconds. So that means that Cora and Stiles get first pick from the board.” She gestured to a bulletin board with the letters of the word ‘love’ pinned to it, and a heart on either side.

Stiles glanced at Cora. “Which letter do you want?” 

Cora studied the board, chewing on her lower lip anxiously. She reached out hesitantly, her hand hovering over the ‘O’ before she changed her mind and reached for the ‘L,’ glancing at Stiles questioningly just before her fingers made contact. “What do you think?” She asked quietly. “Do you have a preference?”

“Well, I’d rather pick a letter than a heart.” Stiles admitted. “If you want L, get L.” 

Cora smiled crookedly at him, then plucked the ‘L’ off the board and pressed it to Stiles’ chest. “You open it.”

Stiles laughed and nodded, opening the card, which the letter had turned out to be. He held it up to show his wife. “We’re going to London.” 

Cora’s eyes widened, and she squealed. “Holy shit!” She blurted, throwing her arms around Stiles. 

Stiles smiled and hugged her, then kissed her softly. 

Kira turned toward Derek. “Is it okay if I pick one of the hearts?” 

Derek nodded, smiling. “Go ahead.” He told her, and pressed his hand to her lower back, gently nudging her forward.

Kira removed the heart-shaped card from beside the ‘E,’ opening it and smiling brightly as she looked up at Derek, holding the card out to him. “Hawaii. Waikiki.” 

Derek grinned and let out a laugh, wrapping his arm around Kira and hugging her. 

Kira felt relieved. She wouldn’t have put it past the producers of the show to send at least one couple off to a horrible destination. She had to admit, though, that she was warming up a lot to the idea of shows like this. It was day one, but it felt perfect. She watched as Lydia and Danny had a brief discussion, then chose the ‘V’ and found out they were going to Las Vegas. 

Theo smiled at Erica when it was their turn. “You pick.” He nodded to the board. “I have a good feeling about this.” 

Erica took a deep breath and reached for the ‘O,’ nervously chewing her lower lip as she opened the envelope and leaned into Theo’s side. Her eyes went wide, and she stared up at him and showed him the destination. “Orlando.”

Theo’s smile widened. “Good!” He blurted. “I was sort of hoping, once I saw the other letters.”

Malia ignored Theo and Erica, already grabbing the ‘E’ and opening it without bothering to ask Scott what he wanted. “What’s... Edin-burga?” 

Lydia fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Edinburgh. It’s in Scotland.” 

“Isn’t that the place where they eat sheep intestines?” Malia frowned. 

Scott looked vaguely suspicious at the location. “It’s also where my grandparents on my dad’s side are from.” He muttered.

Allison frowned at him. “Isn’t that a good thing? You’ll get to visit your heritage or whatever?”

Scott looked at her flatly. “I don’t talk to them. Or my dad.”

Allison held a hand up. “Didn’t know. Obviously. Sorry.” She muttered, then stepped forward, ignoring Jackson, and yanked the last envelope off the board. “Honolulu.” She murmured as she opened the envelope and stared at the paper. She smiled a little. “I could be okay with that.”

Jackson strode up next to her. “Well, Honolulu _is_ one of the most romantic places in the world.” He commented, budging up against her.

Allison’s eyes rolled up in frustration.

Kira moved forward, nodding to Allison. “I guess we’ll be on the same flight, then. You can sit with me.” She twisted around to look at Derek, mouthing ‘sorry’ at him.

Derek shook his head, shrugging. ‘It’s okay.’ He mouthed back, especially when he saw the expression of utter relief on Allison’s face.

Allison exhaled. “Thank you.”

A production assistant called to Allison, Jackson, Derek and Kira. “Your ride to the airport is here.” She glanced around. “Scott, Malia, Cora and Stiles are in the next one. Be ready, okay?” 

Allison blinked, looking confounded. “Already? We’re leaving now?”

Cora furrowed her brows. “Do we get to pack anything, or are we just expected to go buck-naked the whole time we’re there?”

Simultaneously, Stiles and Lydia turned toward Cora. “You didn’t pack?” 

Stiles glanced at Lydia, then looked at Cora. “We can get you stuff when we get there.” He offered. 

Cora shrugged. “I mean, you can. I’ve got a backpack, but nothing in it that’s prepped for a honeymoon.” Her lips twitched. “I wasn’t joking about the buck-naked thing. I didn’t plan to do much sightseeing.”

Derek groaned in the background. “Things I shouldn’t hear my sister saying.” He muttered, covering his face.

“We’ll figure it out.” Stiles winked at Cora. “Okay?” He couldn’t help giving Allison a sympathetic look as the two couples were ushered outside. “Her husband is an asshole.” He muttered. “I mean, I am, too. But differently. Uh, we made a bet that my marriage would last longer than his. I said that I could tell just by looking at him that he was a dick. Basically.” 

“Allison’s no peach, either.” Cora murmured to him. “She practically jumped down Malia’s throat earlier, just for being Malia. But given the way Jackson’s been acting, and the lack of patience Allison seems to have with him, I’m pretty sure you’re gonna win that bet.”

“I’ll split the money with you.” Stiles smiled. “This didn’t turn out how I thought it might, but no complaints. I’m a pessimist. Most of the time, anyway.” He smiled. “I hope you can handle me running around and looking for the TARDIS for at least an hour.” He was surprised when a car for them pulled up almost as soon as the first car was gone. “They really want us to get out of here.” He remarked, glancing back at Cora. “Oh well, let’s go?” 

Cora nodded, grinning. She dove into the car, turning around and looking for her backpack before finding it tucked underneath the seat.

Scott came up behind Stiles and smiled, patting his friend on the shoulder. “Looks like you lucked out, brother.” He murmured, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “She seems like just your type.”

“Yeah, she is.” Stiles agreed. “It wasn’t quite what I thought was going to happen, but I braced myself for inevitability. Actually, I figured they’d pair you up with... it doesn’t matter now. Like I said, you can call me or Skype. Facetime. Text. Send me a carrier pigeon. Dude, don’t let her walk on you, okay?” 

Scott huffed, sighing. “I’m not sure I’ve got much of a choice. She feels like…” He hesitated, then shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. This is who I’ve ended up with, and she doesn’t even want to be with me. I’ll survive ‘til the end of the show. Whatever. I’ll deal.” He squeezed Stiles’ shoulder, and then climbed into the car.

Stiles got in and sat beside Cora, putting an arm around her as Malia got in and shut the door. 

“And then there were four.” Lydia remarked, glancing at Danny, Theo and Erica. “They all get to share flights and get to know each other. We won’t.” 

“We could spend the time until we get to the airport getting to know each other?” Erica suggested. “It won’t be a lot of time, but - we could.”

Danny glanced at Theo and hoped he wasn’t obvious. “I’d like that.” He murmured. 

“I bet you would.” Lydia murmured. “By the way, Danny. My eyes are green.” 

“Yeah, you’ve kind of told me that five times now.” Danny laughed. “Okay, I get it. I messed up.” 

“It happens.” Erica smiled softly. “The light sort of messed with everything, I think. For the few minutes I saw Theo’s eyes, I was convinced they were hazel.”

Theo laughed and hugged Erica. “My brother’s going to have the worst time. He kind of deserves it. He talked me and Danny into this, in the first place.” 

“Which one’s... oh. Jackson.” Lydia smiled slowly. “Allison is going to slaughter him if he doesn’t keep his hands to himself.” 

Erica leaned against Theo, smiling and looking pleased. “Does he do that a lot? I’m kind of amazed that his hands haven’t been chopped off yet.”

“He’s had a rough time getting a girlfriend to stay longer than three months, yeah.” Theo admitted. “He was sort of hoping to be matched up with someone like himself.” 

Erica grimaced. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.” She murmured.

Lydia felt butterflies in her stomach as their car pulled up in front of the church. She knew that Danny wasn’t going to get handsy with her, that he wouldn’t claim he was in love with her in six weeks when she was ready to leave him behind. But she wasn’t sure what was coming next and that made her a little nervous.


	9. Day Two: Cora and Stiles

By the time Stiles woke up in the hotel room, it was mid-afternoon, the day after his wedding ceremony. He had sent texts to his dad and Scott to let them know that he was safe and checked in. He was a little bit afraid that Cora hadn’t slept for the last few hours, the way he had. That she was gone. He got up from the bed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Cora?” 

“Hm? Uh.” Cora mumbled from where she was half-off the bed, one leg and one arm dangling dangerously close to the floor and a pillow half-mashed over her head. “‘M here.” She slurred and made an attempt to unbury herself, her dark hair a mess, spiked up and covering her face.

Stiles laughed softly and laid down on the other bed, where Cora was in danger of falling. He pulled her toward him. “Are you really that tired?” 

Cora whined and clung to him like a monkey. “Lag. I hate lag. So much lag.” She dragged the word out and buried her face in Stiles’ neck.

Stiles put his arms around Cora. “Okay, we’ll just lay here, then.” He murmured. His stomach growled a few seconds later. 

Cora giggled and shifted closer, propping her chin on his chest. “Does this place have room service?” She asked. “We don’t have to leave the room just yet.” Without thinking, she lowered her head and nibbled at his collarbone.

Stiles groaned. “Okay, I can look into it, but I have to get up to get the room service menu.” 

Cora muttered, but unwound her arms and legs, letting him go. She leaned back, smiling faintly at him. “Well. You look delightful in the morning.”

“It might be morning in California, but it’s not morning here.” Stiles pointed toward the alarm clock. “It’s almost time for dinner.” 

“I claim jet lag.” Cora reiterated. “My brain is still on California time. I think it’s gonna be worse when we get back.”

“Well, that’s okay. I’d have that same problem if I wasn’t constantly wide awake.” Stiles murmured. He found the room service menu, but there was a post-it stuck to it, with the words ‘day two: have a romantic dinner date.’ He held the little slip of paper out to Cora. “I guess we’re going out?” 

Cora sat up and let out a loud yawn, rubbing at her eyes. She took the slip of paper and pouted. “Oh, but - giant hotel room. Lots of flat surfaces.”

Stiles stared at her, smiling. “I swear you can sleep later. Or... whatever else you had in mind.” 

Cora cocked her head to the side, smiling crookedly. “Alright.” She sighed in agreement, and stood up, stretching. “Is there anything saying where we have to go, or do we pick it out on our own?”

“It doesn’t say we have to go anywhere in particular, but I have a feeling that they’ve already set this up for us.” Stiles murmured. “They probably have everything planned out for the next six weeks.” 

Cora grimaced, nodding. “Yeah, probably. They’ve probably got something waiting for us in the lobby or something to show us where to go. I’m surprised they don’t have outfits waiting for us.”

Stiles laughed. “They probably do. Sponsors.” He remarked, then moved toward Cora and kissed her. 

Cora grinned against his mouth and kissed him back, her hands sliding up his sides and over his chest.

Stiles glanced at her. “You know, we could just stay here. Who needs food, anyway?” 

Cora gestured emphatically. “That’s what I’m saying!” She laughed, and then bit her lower lip, pressing her hand to his stomach. “Something tells me, though, we might get interrupted by rumbling bellies.” She leaned her head up and kissed him again. “Plus, I’m up, now, so we might as well get ready and go to dinner. Right?”

“Yeah, but when we get back...” Stiles paused, letting the words hang in the air as he put his shoes on and grabbed his jacket. “More sleep.” He winked at Cora. 

Cora giggled and moved to the closet, looking inside. “Holy damn hell.” She muttered. “Stiles, I think the producers might have murdered a rich person and stuffed her clothes in this closet for me.”

Stiles walked up behind Cora, putting a hand on her shoulder as he looked at the contents of the closet. “No, I’m pretty sure those are yours.” 

“No way.” Cora muttered, gaping at the dresses. “No freaking way.” She yanked one off the hanger and held it up to herself, spinning around to face Stiles. “Who the hell would spend the money to put these things on my body?”

“I would. But I didn’t do it.” Stiles shook his head. “I can’t afford this kind of stuff. My dad’s a Sheriff. My mom died when I was a kid. Not to get maudlin on you.” He snorted. “But anyway, I’m just saying. It wasn’t me.” 

Cora looked up at him, then leaned against his side and hugged him. “My dad died when I was five.” She said quietly. “I get it.”

Stiles wrapped his arms around Cora. “I’m sorry to hear that.” He murmured. “But it kind of proves the theory I had.” He breathed in and out slowly. “I don’t believe in God, really. But I believe that sometimes, there’s some kind of higher power that likes to give us a break once in awhile. And maybe that’s how we ended up together?” 

Cora curled against his chest, nuzzling his neck. “Maybe it is. Not like I mind it.” She smiled and pulled away. “So. Pick a dress.”

Stiles looked through the dresses, pulling a dark purple one out of the closet. “It was either this or that one with the zipper all the way up the front, but our goal is to actually leave and have dinner. And not get arrested.” 

Cora snickered. “Bet we’d give the _’bobbies’_ a hell of a good show, though.” She took the dress and laid it out carefully on the bed, then gave Stiles a catty grin and turned her back to him, tugging her tank top over her head. She slid the dress on easily, pressing her hands to her belly when it had settled and preening in front of the mirror. “My boots are gonna look _awesome_ with this.”

Stiles blinked, still trying to adjust to the fact that Cora had just changed in front of him, in front of a mirror so he could see her from more than one angle. “Y- yeah.” He stammered. 

Cora ducked her head, grinning to herself before she turned and moved toward him. “Dinner first.” She murmured, pressing her lips to his. “And then… you can consummate this marriage with me for however long you like, yeah?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

Stiles nodded. “Yeah.” He repeated. “Okay, let’s go. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can come back.” He smiled and grabbed her hand, leading her out of the hotel room. 

Cora laughed and hurried after him.


	10. Day Two: Lydia and Danny

Lydia stared at her menu, then looked over the top of it, at Danny. “I’m getting the cauliflower.” She told him. “And a glass of wine. Do you want to split anything with me?” 

Danny laughed. “No, I’m okay. I know we have to deal with this for six weeks, but we both know this won’t last. You’re more than a little controlling and even if I was... someone else... I would be intimidated.” He knew she would understand that he was referring to the fact that he liked men. 

Lydia smiled. “I was asking you about dinner, not our possessions. If you would loosen up a little, you would see that we could actually be good friends. Besides, you look like you need my help.” She said bluntly. 

Danny snorted. “They should have paired you with Jackson. I would have been dealing with Allison for six weeks, but she would probably prefer my company to his. It’s not like I’d have been all over her.” 

“I think Allison would prefer my company to any guy that signed up, at this point.” Lydia retorted. “The fact is, I need this money for college. My doctorate. So stick with me for six weeks and at least pretend to get along with me, and we’ll be fine when it’s over.” 

“I think you misunderstood. I don’t have a problem with you.” Danny explained, feeling frustrated. “I have a business that I want people to actually know about, so I can get more customers. This seemed like a good way to do it. So it looks like you and I are both faking it.” 

Lydia smiled smugly. “I’m good at it.” 

“Okay, things I didn’t need to know. So you can just be the Grace to my Will.” Danny eyed Lydia, wondering how she would react to that. He hated Will and Grace. 

“Why, because I’m a redhead?” Lydia scoffed. “Please.” 

“Oh, good.” Danny laughed. “Okay, I’m sorry. That was a test.” 

“Can we get to the part where we’re past this, then?” Lydia asked, sighing. “I know I can be cruel, but to compare me to Grace Adler and say I belong with your rude friend doesn’t seem necessary, does it?” 

Danny was silent. He nodded. “Yeah. Sorry.” 

The waiter walked up to their table, all smiles. “Have you made your decisions, then?” He asked, glancing between them in interest.

Lydia smiled like she was in love. “Yes. We’ll have the cauliflower and... what do you want, honey?” She asked Danny. 

Danny fought back a laugh. “I think I’ll just have the steak. And strawberry pie for dessert.” He handed his menu to the waiter. 

The waiter took the menu and smiled at them both. “Very well, I’ll have those right out to you in a little bit. Would you care for a refill on your drinks in the meantime?”

“Yes, please.” Lydia murmured. She felt a little sick to her stomach all of a sudden, as the last couple of days caught up to her. “Oh. I don’t think this was my best idea.” She mumbled. 

The waiter paused. “Is everything alright, Mrs. Mahealani?” He asked curiously, glancing at Danny.

“Ms. Martin. Please.” Lydia blurted. “I just need to make a phone call.” She got up, grabbing her purse and hurrying into an empty dining room. She wasn’t sure what she was doing until she was waiting for Jordan to answer the phone. She told herself to hang up, but she was frozen in place, just listening to the phone ringing. 

Jordan answered the phone hesitantly, uncertain why Lydia was calling him when they’d split up. “Lyds. What, uh - what’s going on?” He asked carefully. “Why are you calling me?”

“I’m married.” Lydia blurted. “It was a spontaneous decision. I don’t regret it. Much. But he’s not... he’s not you. I miss you.” 

Jordan was silent for a long moment, and then huffed bitterly. “Obviously you don’t miss me that much.” He said. “Not if you could marry someone, just like that. I asked you. I _asked_ you, Lydia. You told me that you didn’t want anything to interfere with your schooling. Including me. It’s why we broke up.”

Lydia hung up, frustrated with herself. She walked back to the table, her patented ice-queen smile on her face. 

“Are you all right?” Danny asked, frowning. “Do you want to go?” 

“Yes.” Lydia blurted, nodding. She got up from her seat, barely paying attention as Danny flagged down the waiter and explained that they were leaving without eating. She watched as he left a tip on the table anyway. She wanted to thank him for that, but she couldn’t make herself speak. 

Danny guided Lydia out of the restaurant. “I have an ex.” He said softly. “A guy I never really got over. I just threw myself into my work and I have my own business now. I don’t know what he’s doing, but he’s still in my phone. Just in case he ever calls. I don’t want to see the number and not know it’s him.” 

Lydia took a deep breath. “Did your ex ask you to marry him and you said no, then married a stranger and had a moment of panic?” She sniffled. “Of all the idiotic... things.” 

Danny hugged Lydia. “Come on, we’ll walk back. It’s not far and we can get ice cream on the way.”


	11. Day Two: Theo and Erica

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theo and Erica smut.

Theo felt like a little kid as he stared in wonder at everything they passed, from the airport to the hotel. Their flight had been delayed in Chicago, because of a tornado, so they were stuck spending last night in the airport there. He felt like it was worth the wait. He and Jackson had been given whatever money could buy, and he knew he was spoiled. But their parents were always busy with society parties and work, so they never got to go very far from San Francisco. They had been adopted when they were babies, and they had met their biological parents when they were eighteen. Theo hadn’t cared much for their mom, and Jackson had hated their dad. So that was that. He glanced at Erica. “Have you been here before?” 

Erica shook her head, her eyes wide and staring, her mouth slightly open. “Never.” She said softly. “My parents never had much money when I was growing up. And then my dad left, and my mom…” She trailed off, and then shook her head again. “I’ve never been out of California before. I’ve never been out of _San Francisco_ before. This is… amazing.”

“So you’re okay with me acting like an overgrown toddler?” Theo laughed. “I’ve never been here before. I always wanted to go, but my parents never had time. If someone else had gotten this, I would have offered them like, five thousand dollars to trade me.” He admitted. “Or more. That’s just... I want to do everything.” 

Erica looked amused, glancing over at him. “Same.” She told him, nodding. “Disney World, Epcot, Universal. I want to see and do everything. I’ve wanted to come here since I first found out about Orlando. So… you might act like an overgrown toddler, but you won’t be alone.”

Theo grinned, reaching for Erica’s hand. “I’m glad we’re doing this together.” 

Erica beamed at him brightly. “Me, too. I’m so excited.”

Checking in didn’t take long at all, someone with the studio had already been in Orlando to welcome them, and she handed them their room keys. She gave them an hour to relax before they had to have dinner together at a restaurant somewhere in the city, so Theo set his suitcase on the bed and immediately started changing his clothes. It wasn’t until he was down to his boxers that he realized he hadn’t exactly asked Erica if she was comfortable. He glanced over at her, trying to gauge her reaction. 

Erica kept her eyes averted shyly, but a small smile was on her face as she moved toward the other side of the bed with her own things. Opening her bag, she tugged out a long white sundress and laid it out before pulling out a matching set of flip-flops and tossing them onto the ground. Her fingers reached for the hem of her shirt, uncertain if she should keep going, but she reasoned with herself that she was in front of her husband now - even if she didn’t change in front of him then, it would happen eventually. She hesitantly tugged the shirt over her head, then quick as a flash, tugged the dress on.

Theo didn’t pretend he wasn’t looking at Erica. “I’m not going to touch you unless you want me to.” He murmured. “That kiss yesterday was expected of us. I won’t grab you like that again. Not unless you say to do it.” He paused. “But I think you want me to do it.” 

Erica flushed, sitting down on the bed and looking at him over her shoulder. “Maybe I do want you to.” She said softly, her voice bold.

“We have time before we have to be back downstairs.” Theo pointed out. “I liked talking to you last night. And on the flight out here. This isn’t just... I could never just...” He sighed in frustration. “I probably came across as creepy a minute ago. I didn’t mean to.” 

Erica shook her head furiously, and cupped his cheek in one hand, abruptly leaning across the mattress and kissing him silent.

Theo kissed back, gripping Erica’s shoulders and pulling her closer to him. 

Erica squirmed across the bed and threw her arms around him, climbing sideways into his lap.

Theo moved his hands down to Erica’s hips, pulling her against him and groaning. 

Erica ran both hands through his hair, pulling her lips away from his and panting softly, her mouth pressing gently against his forehead. She shifted gently, staring down at him, and straddled his lap before tugging at the straps of her dress and pushing them down.

Theo kissed Erica’s shoulder, then trailed his lips down, over her chest. He glanced up at her, bringing a hand up to trace fingers over her breast. 

Erica shivered, clutching his shoulder and tilting her head down to kiss his neck and press closer to him.

Theo tilted his head to the side, making a frustrated noise before he moved again, laying Erica down on the bed and lowering his mouth to her breast. 

Erica let out a soft whine, arching her back and pressing closer to him once more, her fingers running up and down his back. “Theo,” she whimpered, wiggling underneath him.

Theo pushed Erica’s skirt up around her hips, tugging her underwear down her thighs. He slid a finger inside her. 

Erica moaned, staring up at him. Her fingers clenched around his shoulder, wrapping one leg around his waist.

Theo looked up at Erica. “Do you want me?” He asked softly, staring. “Say it, if you do.” 

Erica stared at him, nodding. “I do.” Her lips turned up at the repetition of the words that had bound her to this man only hours earlier. “Do… do you want me?” 

“I do.” Theo grinned. He raised his hips, unfastening his pants and pushing them and his underwear down with one hand. He guided himself inside her, bracing his hands on the mattress and thrusting deep. “I’m keeping you.” He murmured. “I really like you.” 

Erica laughed, holding onto him, and let out a loud moan. “I really like you, too. I really want to keep you.” She whimpered, dragging him down for a kiss. “This turned out _so_ much better than I thought.”

“Yeah?” Theo smiled. “I feel the same way. I don’t know what the others are planning on doing when this is over, but I’m not divorcing you. Not a chance.” He kissed her again.

Erica giggled, kissing him back. “I definitely don’t plan on divorcing you, either.” She twined her arms around him, wrapping her leg around one of his.

Theo laughed. “We should tell them we’re not going to dinner.” 

Erica waved her hand dismissively, grinning. “I think they’ll figure it out when we don’t show up.” She laughed, and tugged him down against her.

“You. Are. Devious.” Theo teased, kissing Erica after each word he spoke. “I think you’re going to get me into trouble and I don’t think I care.” 

“I _can_ be a troublemaker,” Erica murmured, rolling her hips and wriggling against him. She drew him into a long, deep kiss, one arm resting above her head.

Theo wrapped his hands around Erica’s wrists as he started thrusting harder, eager to make her come. He had tried to tell her, to warn her about what he could become. But the temptation was too great for him to do the reasonable thing and tell her to leave while she could. 

Erica’s moans came faster and faster, her body writhing against Theo’s eagerly, and she let out a shriek as she came around him, clenching down hard on his dick.

Theo came, kissing Erica’s neck as he tried to catch his breath. “Damn, baby.” He murmured. “I could be obsessed with you if that keeps up.” 

Erica moaned softly, cupping his face and tugging him toward her for a kiss. “Keep treating me that well, so will I.” She sighed against his mouth.

Theo moved to lay beside Erica, sliding an arm under her and pulling her against his side. “If we get hungry, I’ll go get us something from the vending machine. But all I want to do right now is sleep. You?” 

Erica pressed against him, kissing his cheek and wrapping an arm around his waist. “Sounds good to me.” She sighed, snuggling against him. “But later? Disney. So much Disney.”

“They’ll have to get Mickey and Minnie to personally escort us out.” Theo laughed. 

“Even better.” Erica told him, grinning. “Personal photo ops.”

Theo reached for the phone to call the front desk. Half asleep, he wriggled playfully against Erica as he explained that the two of them weren’t coming to dinner, but that the camera crew could fake it later on in the week, if they wanted. He hung up before the production assistant could protest, kissing Erica’s shoulder and closing his eyes. 

Erica curled around him, smiling as she shut her own eyes.


	12. Day Two: Malia and Scott

Malia grimaced at the menu in front of her. She was fighting the urge to tell the guys with cameras to go away, but she knew that she had signed the contract to let them record her, and she had to honor it. Instead, she glanced at Scott. “What are you getting?” 

Scott was still searching the menu, but he raised his eyes to observe Malia. “The steak, I think. Medium rare.”

“That sounds good. I think I want that, too.” Malia smiled. She paused, studying him in return. “You don't like me, do you?” 

“I don’t know you.” Scott replied simply. “And you don’t really seem like you want to get to know me.” He lifted his glass of wine and took a large gulp.

“No, but I do.” Malia protested. “I just wish you weren’t such a bunny rabbit. You know. Weak and defenseless.” 

Scott looked up at her for a long moment, then snorted. “You think I’m a bunny rabbit? You don’t think that the way I’ve been acting around you has anything at all to do with the way you’ve been acting around me?” He smiled mirthlessly. “You made a snap decision about me the minute you looked at me. You didn’t really take the time to find out anything else.” He took another sip, then swallowed, amending, “You got my eye color right. I’m just not entirely sure how much of that was a guess.”

“Your eyes are brown. Like your hair and your skin. Sort of. It’s not bothersome. To look at.” Malia explained. “I expected to be matched with someone more aggressive than you. You lack survival skills. But I think this could work. My aunt says I’m abrasive. So maybe it’ll be good, having a bunny rabbit kind of guy around.” 

Scott stared at her, pressing his lips together. “I don’t know if I should feel insulted or appreciative right now. In fact, I’m kinda thinking if I ever look at an actual bunny rabbit, I might scream bloody murder.”

“Okay.” Malia muttered, setting her menu down. “What the hell is the problem, exactly? You signed up to be married to someone for at least six weeks. You knew there was a risk of ending up with someone you don’t like. I’m sorry you don’t like me, but I’m not going to be someone I’m not. I was trying to give you a compliment. Maybe it didn’t go over so well, but fuck, at least I’m trying. You won’t say anything to me, so I have to think of things and I’m not good at that. In case you didn’t notice.’ 

Scott looked back down at his menu. “Maybe I tend to hold a grudge against people that decide what they think of me before they ever actually know me.” He said quietly. “I was nervous about this whole thing. I couldn’t stop shaking in the greenroom before they told us to come out. I kept thinking, ‘What if she doesn’t like me? What if she takes her blindfold off and decides she could do better? Then I’ll be stuck with someone who’s miserable, and that’ll make me miserable.’ You didn’t exactly look thrilled when you saw me, and it sorta made me feel like all of my fears were legit.” He laughed bitterly, shaking his head. “You made me feel like shit, you made me feel unwanted, and I’d only seen you for a matter of seconds.”

“So you quit already?” Malia asked. “I’m just stuck with you not talking to me for the next six weeks? Do you realize how hypocriminal that is? You haven’t even tried to get to know me, either. And that’s somehow my fault, twice? Well... fuck you twice.” She blurted, getting up and walking away from the table. 

Scott sat at the table for another long moment, and then set his menu down, standing up and going after her. He pressed his lips together when he found her, sliding down the wall to sit beside her. “It’s ‘hypocritical.’” He said softly. “And you’re not wrong. I haven’t tried to get to know you. I held on to my grudge, and that’s definitely my fault, not yours.” He cleared his throat. “And I’m sorry.”

“Oh.” Malia murmured, still processing that he had corrected her. “Thanks. I don’t expect you to like me.” She frowned, thinking. “But I don’t want you to ignore me. I was actually complimenting you, whether or not you get that.” 

Scott looked down at his hands for a long moment, then looked up at her. “I’m not used to people complimenting me. Seriously or not.” He said softly. “The only people that really ever do are my mom, Stiles’ dad, or Stiles.”

“Then everyone else in your town is dumb.” Malia said bluntly. She got to her feet and held a hand out to Scott. “Come on, I want steak right now. I’m thinking about just telling them to bring me a raw one.” 

Scott took her hand and stood up, smiling a little. “That would horrify the wait staff. I’m kind of interested to see how they react to that.”

Malia grinned widely, showing her fangs. She waved a waiter over. “I want two steaks, right now. Don’t bother cooking them, just bring them to me. Raw.” 

The waiter yelped, staring at Malia with wide-eyed terror. “Uh, yes - yes, ma’am.” He blurted before spinning toward Scott. “And you, sir?” His eyes kept darting warily to Malia.

Scott bit down on his lip to fight off a laugh. “One steak. Medium rare. And a refill on the wine, please.”

“Oh, yeah. Me too. For the wine.” Malia nodded. She smiled proudly as the waiter ran off, then turned toward Scott. “That was fun.” 

Scott grinned at her. “That _was_ fun. I think you made him pee.”

Malia sat back down at the table. “Fear actually makes animals stringy.” She paused. “I don’t eat people. That was... I probably shouldn’t have said any of that. This is what I mean, I’m not good at talking. I scare people off. These six weeks will probably be the only ones I spend married.” She slumped in her chair and frowned. 

Scott sat forward in his seat, hesitating a little before he reached forward and pressed his hand over hers. “I haven’t walked away.” He said softly, and then shrugged a shoulder. “I could have. I haven’t.”

“Nobody would blame you, if you did.” Malia muttered. “Maybe you were right to ignore me before. Maybe that’s what you should be doing.” 

Scott huffed out a laugh. “Where’d your confidence go?” He asked, and moved his chair around the table to be closer to her. “Maybe I don’t want to ignore you now. Maybe I want to get to know you better.”

“Okay, but why? Because I made some waiter pee?” Malia asked, shaking her head. “You’re weird. And confusing.” 

“Because you’re funny. Accidentally funny. And because you got back in my face when I was being a mopey dick. And because…” He took her hand in his, studying it for a moment. “You’re my wife. And… maybe that doesn’t mean much to the people that watch this show or whatever, but it means something to me. I never would have agreed to come on this show and marry someone I didn’t know if I didn’t think it could mean something important.”

“I was feral for a long time.” Malia blurted, giving Scott a wary look. “There was a full moon and I lost control of myself and shifted. I ran off and didn’t shift back for years. I’m still not sure what made that happen, either. So I had to take remedial everything for awhile. I still get words mixed up. I know it’s funny sometimes. But it’s like English is still foreign to me. I spoke in bays and howls for so long.” She scooted closer to Scott and put her head down on his shoulder. “Is this okay?” 

Scott rested his head gently against hers, wrapping an arm carefully around her. “It’s more than okay.” He told her softly, rubbing her shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong with taking remedial anything. I had to take a lot of remedial somethings when I was a kid. I wasn’t… the greatest learner. And - there’s nothing funny about you having trouble with English. I don’t know if you noticed, but I wasn’t exactly laughing when I went out to get you earlier.” He looked down at her, and brushed a lock of hair back from her eyes, searching her face. “I had enough people mocking me and making me miserable when I was a kid. I don’t intend to do that to anyone else. Not you, definitely.”

“I’m sorry that you thought I was making fun of you. I admit that I was a little disappointed, but I see good things about you being... different from me.” Malia murmured. She turned her head, kissing his palm before she looked back up at him to make sure she hadn’t offended him again. 

Scott stared down at her, his eyes heavy lidded. His thumb dragged against her lower lip. “Well. Maybe there’s some things we could have in common.” He said softly, the press of her lips against his palm feeling warm and tingly.

“I’m good when there’s not much talking.” Malia nodded, leaning in to kiss Scott. 

Scott leaned in to kiss her back, his hand cupping her jaw and drawing her closer to him.

Malia smiled against Scott’s mouth. “You’re not that much of a bunny rabbit.” She murmured. “You proved me wrong.” 

Scott huffed against her mouth, grinning faintly. “We’ve all got a wolf inside us somewhere.” He murmured, and deepened the kiss.

Malia growled at the waiter when he returned with their plates, just as she was getting into the kiss. She wrinkled her nose and bared her teeth when she heard a trickle of water and smelled urine. “That’s gross.”

Scott buried his face in her neck, laughing. “I'd like to order a new waiter, please, this one is broken.” He mumbled against her skin, nipping her throat. 

Malia smiled. “Let's just get boxes for this and go. I like our marriage much better like this.”

Scott grinned. “So do I.” He murmured, cupping her face and kissing her once more.


	13. Day Two: Kira and Derek

Kira sipped her wine and smiled at Derek. She had slept on the plane and had spent the majority of the day shopping and getting her hair and nails done. She was glad that Derek had indulged her sudden need to look glamorous. She had a brand new blue lace dress on and had so far managed not to spill anything on it. “It was nice of them to arrange dinner like this for us.” She murmured. 

Derek grinned. “I agree.” He murmured, taking a sip from his own glass. “You look great, by the way. And I think Waikiki suits you. You look much more relaxed here, now, than you did back in California.”

“My dad isn’t over my shoulder.” Kira laughed. “Thank you for complimenting me. I’m glad I’m here with you.” She reached across the table, careful to avoid bumping the candles and the glasses of wine. “I feel really blessed right now.” 

Derek took her hand in his, squeezing gently. “I think we’ve both got reason to feel that way.”

Kira laughed a little. She could feel herself blushing again. She was starting to think Derek was keeping track of how many times he could make her cheeks go pink in embarrassment. “I know that I’m clumsy and awkward.” She began. “But it seems strange to me that you felt like this was your best option. I know you said your mom talked you into it, but I don’t think you’re the kind of guy that does things he doesn’t want to do.” 

“Maybe a part of me did want to do this.” Derek admitted. “I was thinking about it before. It - I’m a romantic.” He shrugged. “Part of me felt like it would be insanely romantic if I met my other half on a reality show where I was blindfolded and married to someone I didn’t know.” He chuckled a little. “I don’t know how you feel, but I like you. A lot. I think this could be really good between us. And if for some reason, down the line - hopefully very far down the line - we think this isn’t working out? Then I’m hoping we can at least stay friends. But I’d very much like to not be friends right now. I’d like to be your husband.”

“I’m good with that. I’m a romantic, too.” Kira smiled. “Once we’re done with this, I was thinking maybe I could move in with you? I mean, unless you want to live with me. Or we could find a place somewhere else, altogether.” 

“Well, seeing as I currently live with my mother right now, moving out together sounds like the better idea.” Derek laughed. “Werewolves tend to stick with their pack. Or family. In my case, family _is_ pack.” He smiled at her and nodded. “But that sounds like a great idea.”

Kira nodded. “Foxes don’t generally have packs. Unless there’s a special circumstance for it. Kitsunes aren’t much different. That’s why I feel like my dad is suffocating me. I have my own apartment, but he’s always over to bring me dinner. Like I can’t feed myself. Getting away from that would be good for me.” His earlier words caught up to her, and she glanced up at him, feeling a little nervous. “How would you define the difference between a friend and a husband, Derek?” 

Derek lifted his other hand to cup Kira’s between both of his. He searched her eyes for a long moment. “I think… my definition would be that… in a marriage, it’s not just ‘you’ and ‘me’. It’s ‘youandme.’ It’s ‘us.’ There’s no separation of self. We go through everything together from now on. What affects you affects me, and vice versa. You’re my sounding board, and I’m yours.” He smiled crookedly. “You’re mine, and I’m yours. Friends, lovers, lifemates, everything in between. Friends don’t have that.”

Kira felt captivated, nodding slowly. She couldn’t bring herself to look away. “I like that.” She said finally. “I like the idea of us belonging together.” 

Derek smiled softly. “So do I.” He murmured, and lifted one of her hands gently to kiss the back of it. 

Kira’s mind wandered as she kept looking at Derek. “Do you think that if we make it a year, we could have a wedding of our own? I mean, I know this one counted. But maybe something that’s just what we want, and not what someone else wants to provide us with?” 

Derek’s lips twitched. “I think we’d both be yelled at by various family members to do just that anyway.” He told her. “My mother missed out on three of her babies’ weddings - she won’t exactly be thrilled with herself. And Malia’s father - my uncle - is probably beside himself right now. Hopefully he doesn’t try to sue the studio for something ridiculous.” He paused. “I’m pretty sure he won’t.”

Kira laughed. “Your uncle sounds like an angry version of my dad. If they ever find a cause they agree on, we’re all in trouble.” 

“God help us all.” Derek sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Peter will jump at any chance he can get to push his causes.” He squinted at her. “I’m assuming your father is the only non-supernatural one in your family?” He asked.

Kira nodded. “Yeah, which means he worries about everything, all the time. I have a couple of tails of my own, already. He freaks out when I get them, like he thinks it’s like a cat having nine lives, but in reverse. Or sort of the same?” 

Derek’s lips stretched into a grin. “Did your mom ever really explain the whole kitsune thing to him?”

“Sometimes I think she hasn’t really explained it to me.” Kira laughed. She glanced toward the dessert cart as a waiter wheeled it past their table, then looked back at Derek. 

Derek followed it with his eyes, and then looked back at Kira, his lips tilting up into a half-smile. “We could stay. Or, uh. We could go. Back to the room.”

Kira took a deep breath. “I think I’d like to go back to the room.” 

Derek nodded and lifted his hand to catch the waiter’s attention, then settled the bill and stood up, taking Kira’s hand as he left the tip on the table.

Kira was a little nervous. She had never had sex before, and she wasn’t sure if there was an appropriate time to bring it up. 

Derek seemed to sense her tension, glancing down at her with gentle eyes. “It's alright, you know. If you'd rather wait? We don't have to do anything if you don't want to. We could just… hold each other? Watch tv?”

“I want this with you.” Kira murmured, smiling. “But yeah, waiting might be good? I feel like we’re already close, but it’s been two days. I can’t say I want to wait the whole six weeks, but at least another day.”

Derek smiled. “We can do that. We can do whatever you want to do.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and wrapped his arm around her waist. 

“What tv shows do you like?” Kira smiled. 

“Action shows, usually. I actually sort of like procedural cop shows.” Derek admitted. “And mystery shows, though there doesn’t seem like that many of them. I like a lot of British shows, too.” He tilted his head to look at her. “You?”

“I like some sitcoms. Just mindless fun.” Kira smiled. 

“I’ll watch them sometimes, but it’s usually because my sisters bully me into it.” Derek admitted shrugging. “Sitcoms aren’t really… I don’t know. I think the laugh tracks annoy me? I can’t get into them.”

“Yeah, that’s why I said they’re mindless.” Kira agreed. “Have you seen those youtube videos of shows without the laugh tracks? They’re actually kind of sad.” 

Derek shook his head, looking amused. “I’m going to be honest, I usually spend enough time on my laptop to check my email, look up movie times, and instant message my mother when she’s at work, and I’m pretty crappy at it. I’m computer-literate enough to scrape by, and just barely.” He nudged her arm with his. “Maybe you can help me out.”

Kira smiled. “I’d like that. I’m not... I’ve noticed that we have a little bit of an age difference.” She admitted. “But it doesn’t bother me. I think I like it.” 

Derek raised his eyebrows in interest. “Oh?” He asked, his lips widening into a grin. “I don’t think I’m that much older than you, though. I’m twenty-eight.”

“I’m twenty-two.” Kira grinned back at Derek. “I just finished college. I have a liberal arts degree. I focused on theory and criticism of creative arts.” She made a face, wondering if she was talking too much about herself. She had learned to just fade into the background around the time she moved to California. Things had been different for her in New York. “Anyway, I have this goal. A daydream, I guess. To get to work in a gallery or museum and write critiques of work. I want my words to be the ones that people read when they’re trying to decide if they want something in their living room.” 

Derek’s entire face softened. “That’s a great goal.” He told her, nodding. “I think you could do an incredible job of that.” He smiled. “Maybe I could put you in touch with Laura. You could start critiquing her photographs.”

Kira made a squeaking noise and hugged Derek around the waist. “Thank you!” 

Derek wrapped his own arms around her and picked her up with a laugh. “Anything for my darling wife.” He murmured, and tilted his head down to press a kiss to her lips.


	14. Day Two: Allison and Jackson

Allison unhappily made her way out of the restaurant, shaking her head. “Are you always like this?” She snapped over her shoulder. “Are you really so determined to constantly think with your dick that you would ruin what is supposed to be a perfectly nice dinner?”

Jackson sauntered after her, his eyes trailing over her backside lazily. “I don’t see what you’re so upset about.” He said. “I ended up getting us that entire meal comped. That waiter checking out your tits was the best thing that happened all night.”

Allison shut her eyes. “And you making a scene and causing the waiter to dump soup in my lap was the _worst_. I don’t even know how they decided you were a good fit for this show. I don’t know why they decided you were a good fit for me. You couldn’t even get my eye color right! You’ve made me miserable since the minute they married us!”

“Then why the fuck did you say yes?” Jackson snapped back at her. “No one was stopping you! You could’ve reneged on the contract at any point, and maybe then they’d have found someone that _wants_ to be here with me, instead of some frigid, violence-prone uppity bitch!”

Allison spun around, her eyes glistening. “It’s none of your damn business why I did this. None of it is any of your damn business. This has been an unmitigated disaster.” She said, her voice breaking. “Everything about this has gone from bad to worse, and by far, you are the _worst_. I hate you, I hate your entire existence. You can sleep on the pull-out couch tonight, and if you come anywhere near me, I will scream until the police on the _mainland_ in California hear me!” She stomped away, her shoulders hunched as she started to cry.

Jackson muttered as he followed after her, glaring at her back. “This hasn’t exactly been a cakewalk for me, either, sweetheart.” He muttered. “You're not really sunshine and roses. You're more like… Arrows and toxin.”

Allison sobbed, hurrying away faster. “I wish I was here with anybody but you.” She cried, heading into the hotel and all but running for the elevator. She wished she'd never signed up for this competition. 

A production assistant caught up with Allison at the elevator. “I’ve arranged for a separate room for you.” She held a key out to Allison, then pressed the button for the floor Allison would be on. “Your things are being moved, and we’ll have someone monitoring your events together. We won’t call you until lighting and cameras are set up, and you won’t need to stay past filming. If you want the annulment, we can make arrangements.”

Allison looked at the assistant gratefully, accepting the key. “Thank you.” She said softly, frustratedly wiping at her eyes. “I appreciate this.”

“We’re not sure what happened.” The woman continued. “We make everyone go through the same intensive screening process. He shouldn't have slipped through.”

Allison smiled weakly. “Everyone gets fooled every once in awhile.” She said. “I just want to stick the rest of this out and then go home. I don't even care if I win anymore.” She looked down. “It's not like I'd have anyone to share it with.”

“Who told you this was about winning? The goal is to have a lasting, happy marriage. Where both people communicate. So you’re sticking with it for six weeks? No annulment?” 

Allison looked up at the woman in confusion. “Does it look like I could have any happy, lasting marriage with that man?” She blurted, then faltered. “My mistake. I was led to believe that there was some kind of prize for being here. It's sure as hell not someone that treats me well. I guess there's really no point to me sticking around, is there?” She bit her lower lip. 

“No, seriously. Who told you this was like that?” Elmindreda frowned. “They should be fired. But I think... once we talk to him, things might be different.”

Allison shook her head. “It really was my mistake. I overheard some of the other people on the production set talking and made assumptions that I shouldn’t have made. But I don’t think I ever want to talk to him again. He wasn’t even the least bit apologetic for what he said, and I know I’m not the easiest person to get along with, but that was too much.”

“Okay, but it’s only the second day. You’ve got forty more. I’ll go talk to him myself. We’ll sort this out.”

Allison’s shoulders slumped, and she nodded unhappily. “I’ll be up in my room, then.” She said quietly, and stepped out of the elevator, letting the doors close.

Elmindreda pressed the button for Jackson’s floor, stepping out as another production assistant carried Allison’s suitcase into it, moving past her. “Bye, D!” She called over her shoulder, moving further down the hall and knocking on Jackson’s door. 

Jackson looked smug as he opened the door. “Oh, _now_ you wanna come crawling back to - oh.” He scowled when he looked at Elmindreda. “What?”

“What’s going on with the two of you?” Elmindreda demanded. “Jackson, you were chosen for this because the producers and psychologists, the entire crew believed that you deserved a chance to find someone to marry and fall in love with. But you’ve been treating Allison like she’s a blow up doll.” 

“Maybe I changed my mind on marriage and love.” Jackson grumbled. “And maybe Allison isn’t who I imagined for myself when I _did_ believe in love and marriage. I’ve never met anyone that was so… so… not like me. I’ll tell you exactly what I told her, she’s a frigid, uppity bitch, and I don’t need some chick like that killing all of my fun. I thought this show was gonna be a good time, and so far, all I’ve gotten out of it was a free trip to Hawaii, and some psycho that shoots lasers at me everytime I talk to her.”

“What?” Elmindreda shook her head in disbelief. “You’ve been married less than forty-eight hours and you’re giving up on marriage instead of just being honest with her? I really think we need to schedule a meeting for the two of you with a relationship counselor. That’s what the network pays for one for, anyway.” 

Jackson grimaced. “Don’t. Don’t put me in freaking relationship counseling. Anything but that, alright? She’s a fucking bitch with a tree stuck up her ass, I don’t need counseling to tell me that she doesn’t want me. And that’s bullshit because everyone wants me, okay?” He paused. “Maybe she’s gay.”

“Wow. How did they let you past the first phase of screening?” Elmindreda pursed her lips as she stared at Jackson. “So. I’m not a counselor, but my assessment is that you’re pretty much an asshole. I thought Allison was just having second thoughts, which is normal. But no, you’re horrific.” She felt sympathetic toward Allison and couldn’t resist a few more digs at Jackson. “Oh, right. You came in with Theo and Danny, and this is the season when they’re trying to have people that know each other as participants. I guess if they hadn’t wanted them so badly, you wouldn’t have been... how do I put this? You’re a stipulation. A drawback. The candy in the box that nobody wants, but they’re stuck with it. You’re the chocolate-covered cashews that get thrown in the trash.” 

Jackson gaped at her, then started laughing awkwardly. “Wow. Okay, sweetheart, how long did it take you to come up with _that_ analogy?” He asked. “Was it hard, or did you already have it handy? You couldn’t wait to use it, could you? I’m a fucking gift, and anyone that hooks up with me knows it, okay? Yeah, I haven’t had a relationship that’s lasted more than two weeks, but that’s _my_ decision, okay? I’m the one that breaks it off, you can ask my brother and Danny.”

“Of course you do. That’s just enough time for them to get sick of you, and you’d rather go with the preemptive strike.” Elmindreda retorted. She folded her arms across her chest, then lifted one hand to push a lock of pink hair back from her face. “What you need to do is stop acting like the world owes you something. It doesn’t. Allison doesn’t. And I’m trying to help you, so maybe you should stop being a dick and listen to me. At least half the country is going to be watching you and how you treat Allison. If you want to ever go on a date again with that half of the country, you might want to go grovel and actually try to sound like you mean it. And as for that other half of the country? Anyone who knows their friend is about to go out with you and doesn’t tell them exactly who you are is asking for trouble. We live in a world where someone can find out your credit history as soon as they know your name. Figuring out that you’re _that guy_ , the one that signed himself up to find a wife and immediately started treating her like a fucktoy, is going to take two seconds. You want a good life for yourself? Treat your wife like she’s your wife.” 

Jackson grit his teeth, glaring at her. “Are you done?” He muttered. “She’s not my wife. She’s not anything like what I wanted my wife to ever be like. Find me someone else, take me off the show if you want to, I don’t care. I don’t want her.”

“Dick.” Elmindreda called over her shoulder as she left the room. She shook her head and rolled her eyes, immediately jabbing at the screen on her cell phone to make a phone call. “Yeah, hi. I can’t get through to him. I tried. I tried talking to her, too. How are the other couples doing? Did any of them have this much trouble? We can get them annulled, and...” She sighed, listening as she was informed that the other couples were reported as getting along pretty well. That Malia and Scott had even managed to put aside their differences for the time being and probably weren’t leaving their hotel room anytime soon. She huffed in frustration. “Well, that’s great. So we’ll just send them both home and not use their footage, then? Or we could find them each someone new, get the annulment as fast as possible, and shoot two new weddings like this never happened. Do you think they’d go for that?” She twisted a lock of hair around her finger and bit her lip. “Okay, I’ll just... could you send out a text to the other couples and see if anyone wants to swap, before we suggest this? I really, really don’t want to be fired.” 

Stuart huffed out a soft laugh. “Yeah, Minnie, I’ll get right on that. I’ve had some suspicions about one of the couples, anyway. And no, I’m not telling you which one.” He grinned. “You’ll just have to wait and find out.”

“Okay, but what does this mean for me?” Elmindreda asked quietly. “Am I fired? Do I go back to Los Angeles?” 

“No, Minnie. This isn’t on you, okay? This won’t come back on you, I promise.” Stuart reassured her. “You’re staying right where you are. With the show, because eventually you do have to come back to Los Angeles. We all do.”

“Yeah, I know that, just... I kind of yelled at Jackson.” She admitted. “I told him he should apologize and actually try beyond the second day of being married. But he won’t listen. So... we’re doing the swap thing, then? And I’ll be here for whoever the new Mrs. Whittemore is supposed to be?” 

“Yeah, honey, you will be.” Stuart told her. “Now if we can just… make sure that the new Mrs. Whittemore doesn’t mind being the new Mrs. Whittemore. I do feel bad for Allison, though. I’m not sure it’s going to work out any better for her.”

“Maybe not, but it can’t get much worse.” Elmindreda muttered. “Okay, I’ll book a flight for Allison as soon as you tell me where she’s going.”


	15. Day Three: Couple Swap, Part One

Danny hadn’t had a huge problem with Lydia. But when they got the call about Allison and Jackson, and Lydia had given him a questioning look, he had nodded to her. It was relief he felt as he watched Allison walk into the hotel. He was supposed to be getting ready for their wedding, but he wanted to talk to her, first. “Hi.” 

Allison looked up at Danny and smiled weakly. “Hi.” She mumbled, and then looked down at her bag. “I’m sorry if… if this is an inconvenience for you at all.”

“It’s not.” Danny said quickly. “I just want to get some stuff out of the way, before we do this.” He explained. “I’m gay. So I’m not going to, you know. I won’t be like my friend. Secondly, he’s not actually the dick he was pretending to be. We saw Lydia before we even got to Los Angeles and he heard her talking about being a contestant. He was really hoping that he would get to marry her. So his temper tantrum got him what he wanted, and that’s actually fine with me. She’s not awful, either. But I really think they belong together. I’m pretty much just doing this for the publicity, which I never thought I’d say about myself. But... I’d like to be friends with you. And I’m sorry that my friend was being a dick.” 

Allison nodded slowly, and then snorted in disbelief. “So… this whole time, he was only treating me like that because he didn’t get who he wanted? And he felt like that justified the way he acted with me? He was a sleaze. I regretted ever even coming on this show because of him.” She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “I don’t have a problem with you being gay. I figure you’ll probably treat me better than I have been so far, anyway.”

Danny nodded, smiling. “I’m planning on it. Do you want a hug?” He laughed. “I don’t really go for those, that often. But you seem like you need one.” 

Allison visibly wilted and nodded desperately, reaching for him. “God, yes, please.” She hugged him, hiding her face in his chest.

Danny put his arms around her. “We’ll get married, have dinner, and I’ll help you unpack? Unless someone else is doing that for you already. Today’s thing was to reveal two facts about yourself. I’m not sure what I’m going to say. I thought about just outing myself, but I think that might disqualify me from participating in this.” 

“You could… tell me about what you do?” Allison suggested. “Or something from when you were a kid? Do we have to go anywhere to do this? I’m not sure if someone is unpacking for me or not, but either way, i just want to do this and get back to the room, if that’s okay?”

“Yeah, that’s okay.” Danny agreed. “We can go back and sit for a little while, then have dinner and handle the rest of it after that. It won’t be so bad. I won’t cause any waiters to dump soup on you, and you won’t freak out and run off to call your ex.” He laughed lightly. “These last few days have been long.” 

Allison nodded, letting out a small, sad laugh of her own. “You can say that again.” She sighed.

Danny kept one hand on Allison’s shoulder as he guided her down a long hallway, to where she would need to change. He pointed across the hall. “The wedding is going to be in there. I’m changing in the room next to yours. See you in a few minutes.” He smiled at her and went into the room he had mentioned. 

Allison went into her room and changed, sighing. When she was dressed, she stared at herself in the small mirror, then exhaled again. At least this time, she knew her husband wasn’t going to force himself on her in any way. She swallowed thickly and turned toward the door, stepping out and heading into the room that Danny had indicated before.

Danny smiled at Allison as he glanced up at her from where he was helping untangle some cords. “You look really pretty.” He murmured. 

Allison smiled back at him. “Thank you.” She said softly. “So do you.” She blinked, and then shook her head. “I mean - you look handsome.” She laughed a little. “Too bad you don’t actually like girls,” she murmured, keeping her voice low. “I’d be really lucky otherwise. I still feel lucky right now.”

“I think I look pretty.” Danny teased. “How about if we go with that whole thing, you know... ‘on this day, I will marry my friend.’ You’re my friend.” 

Allison’s smile widened, and she nodded. “I - you’re my friend, too.” She said softly. “Thank you. I’d like that.”

“Okay.” Danny smiled, standing up straight and moving into place for the ceremony. 

Allison moved into place beside him, and shakily reached for his hand, clutching it tightly.

Danny recited his vows, feeling guilty that he didn’t mean them. He wasn’t sure why this was so important to Allison, since she could have easily walked away from the show and left Jackson in the dust. He wasn’t sure he had the right to ask her.

Allison repeated her vows dutifully, clutching Danny’s hand like a lifeline. A part of her felt sad that she wouldn't get to do this with anyone that she might eventually fall in love with, but she'd never had the best of luck with guys anyway. A gay man who would treat her decently - who would treat her like a friend - was better than nothing. 

Danny kissed Allison softly to end the ceremony, shaking his head a little when the cameras were turned off. “I feel like the biggest liar. I should just tell you, like it’s one of the two big deal things I’m revealing. On camera. I know they won’t kick me off, we already sort of discussed it. And marriages based on business don’t have to necessarily be miserable ones.” 

“True enough.” Allison sighed. “It's how every single Royal and political marriage was arranged. And some of them didn't totally suck.”

Danny laughed and nodded. “Yeah. I know you don't have to tell me, but what made you want this for yourself?” 

Allison didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Money. Normalcy.” She huffed. “Getting away from my family. Take your pick, I guess.”

“Good enough reasons.” Danny agreed. “It’s okay. We’ll get to know each other more. There’s no hurry.” 

Allison nodded, smiling. “Thank you for all this. For being… for being so understanding and everything. I can’t imagine how anyone else might have dealt with this.”

“I think most of us are kind of flying blind, here.” Danny nodded. 

“Ugh, truth.” Allison breathed out, then looked up at him hopefully. “Do you think we have ice cream in the room?”

Danny started laughing. “We do. I swear I’m more of a matchmaker than a husband. First Lydia and Jackson, now I think I should give you Lydia’s number and program her into your phone as ‘Best Friend.’” 

“I don’t have any friends.” Allison blurted out before looking embarrassed. “I mean - there’s you, obviously, now. But, uh. I… I moved around too much when I was a kid. All the way up until I was eighteen. I’m twenty-two, now, and… I still haven’t quite… I never really mastered how the whole… making friends thing works.”

“You talk.” Danny said gently as he guided her with a hand on her shoulder again, toward the elevator. “Find similar interests or experiences. It’s not as hard as some people make it sound. It just takes being polite.” He paused, glancing at her. “You’re not going to like me saying it, but you could use some help there, definitely. But that’s what you have me for.” 

Allison ducked her head. “I… I know what I come across as. I’m…” She licked her lips, taking a deep breath. “I think it had to do with moving around so much. I didn’t… come from a military family or anything, but we might as well have been, for the way my family acted around me. And expected me to act.” She exhaled softly. “There was a lot of _yes sirs_ and _no sirs_ and ma’ams when I was home. My mom… and my dad and aunt and grandpa… they were… Maybe I shouldn’t get into it.” She mumbled. “The less said about them, the better, for now.”

Danny nodded. “Okay.” He murmured. “But I want you to tell me eventually.” He opened the hotel room door for her. “Ice cream is in the freezer. I hope you like mint chocolate chip.” 

Allison stepped inside, smiling at him. “Love it.” She confirmed, nodding. She moved toward the dresser and opened it, smiling a little wider when she saw that her clothes had been unpacked and carefully placed inside. She reached for a set of pajamas, and excused herself to the bathroom to change before she popped back into the room, grabbed the ice cream and a spoon, and curled up on the bed.

Danny wondered how angry the crew would be if they had to push the dinner date back another day, but he changed his clothes too, and sat down beside Allison with a spoon of his own. “Give me your phone.” 

Allison sat up a little and reached for her phone, handing it to him. “I know we were supposed to go to dinner first, but… this has been a really trying day, and I kind of think if the crew told us that we had to go, I might scream, and it wouldn’t be pretty.” She admitted. “We can still catch up. We’ll just have to… double-time it, I guess?”

Danny glanced at Allison, then sighed. “Okay, listen.” He started putting his phone number into her phone, then added Lydia’s as he spoke. “So far, all that anyone has seen from you is that you’re not willing to compromise on anything. I’m not at all saying that Jackson was right to treat you how he did, and when I see him again, I’m going to have a lot to say to him. This is in-person stuff, not over the phone. Your day, so far, has consisted of flying out here from Hawaii and putting on a nice dress. Saying words that everyone in our age group has heard at least two dozen times by now. All the crew wants is for us to go have dinner, so that they can record it and go on about their lives. And then after that, it’s just a matter of a simple conversation. We could even get it out of the way during dinner, if you wanted. There’s no rule against that. You’re going to have to accept that not everything is going to be how you want it. And we can eat ice cream and watch movies when we’re back in here, but I’ll let you have another half an hour before we leave. Okay?” 

Allison bit her lower lip and chewed a little, looking down at the ice cream for a moment before she nodded. “Okay.” She said quietly, and then nodded again.

Danny smiled to reassure Allison. “Okay, here.” He held her phone back out to her. “You have my number and Lydia’s, now. I’m programmed in as ‘husband.’” He laughed. “So Siri should be able call me for you.” 

Allison stared at him, and then let out a giggle, her eyes squeezing shut. “Thank you, Danny.” She leaned against him and gave him a hug.

Danny put his arm around Allison. “It’s no problem.” He murmured. “I’m going to get ready for dinner and tell them we’ll be downstairs soon.” 

“Okay.” Allison said. “I’ll be ready by the time you come back.”

Danny nodded. He picked up a change of clothes from the closet and went into the bathroom to get ready. He couldn’t help laughing to himself a little, wondering if he was gay because he thought girls were kind of tiresome, or if he thought girls were kind of tiresome because he was gay. There was nothing wrong with Lydia or Allison, beyond the emotional problems he thought were pretty obvious. But he had grown up being the best friend of Jackson Whittemore, so he was used to that sort of thing. He just wished he could have been around people who had their heads together. But those sort of people weren’t looking for everlasting love from a tv series. 

Allison took the time that Danny was in the bathroom to change as well, leaving her pajamas on the bed and choosing a short, sleeveless pink dress. She smiled down at it a little, thinking that even if Danny wasn’t attracted to _her_ , at least they would make an attractive couple. She giggled and tugged the dress on, before pulling on a pair of simple, low black heels and fluffing out her hair.

Danny opened the bathroom door slightly and called out to Allison. “Is it okay for me to come out of here now?” 

Allison poked her head around the doorway to look at him and grinned. “Yes, it is. You can come out now.”

“Cute.” Danny laughed. “What do you want for dinner?” He opened the hotel room door for Allison. “Please, please don’t say cauliflower.” 

Allison scrunched up her nose. “Dear god, no. I want a starter salad first so I can pretend that I’m still being healthy when I pick either a crazy amount of seafood, cow, or chicken in any way, shape, or form afterward.” She scrunched up her nose. 

Danny smiled. “Okay.” He followed her out of the room and made sure the door was latched before he moved toward the elevator. He glanced at the cameraman following him and Allison, then turned toward her. “Is mint chocolate chip your favorite ice cream?” 

Allison shook her head. “Not my favorite, no. If you put any flavor of ice cream in front of me, I’ll pretty much inhale it. Except pistachio. I hate pistachios.” Her eyes went a little dreamy. “There’s this place in Columbus, Ohio, called Jeni’s? All of their ice cream is made with local ingredients. They do ice creams, sorbets, frozen yogurts… they make this one, it’s got cream cheese ice cream, and they mix in vanilla-flavored cake, and this unbelievable caramel-butterscotch sauce. And they have this other one that, it’s like… It’s goat cheese with cherries. And it sounds absolutely disgusting, I know, but it’s…” She looked up at him sheepishly. “Well, I’ve never had anything like it, and I totally just realized I was waxing poetic about ice cream and I should probably shut up.”

“I was going to ask you if they were paying you to be here.” Danny teased. “What else do you want me to know about you?” 

“Well… I moved around a lot as a kid. I mean… a _lot_.” She looked at him. “I’m talking South America, South Africa, Mexico, Canada, Japan, Thailand. Moved everywhere all around the States, too. But I love San Francisco.” She grinned. “Bloomington, Minnesota is a close second. The Mall of America is incredible.” Her face softened. “Oh, but… the Outer Banks in North Carolina… is so beautiful.”

As she spoke, Danny had been guiding Allison through the hotel and out to the car that was waiting for them. He wasn’t sure this was something he wanted anymore, but he knew it would only hurt Allison if he abandoned her now. Still, he didn’t want to keep lying and make the viewers, his potential customers, hate him. “I’m gay.” He said abruptly. “I know I said it to you already, but I want it... on record. That this is a business thing for me. But that I want us to be friends. And I did vow, earlier tonight, to be there for you if you need me, and if that means telling you that your boyfriend is a jerk, then that’s what I’ll do.” 

Allison looked at him, and then smiled faintly. “I know you would.” She said quietly, taking his hand and squeezing it. “I vowed to be there for you, too.” She took a deep breath. “For the next six weeks, and after that, too. You’re - my friend now. And that means something to me. And if I ever do get a boyfriend, which I don’t, you’re more than welcome to call him whatever you want, whenever you want.”

Danny smiled back at Allison. “I will.” He grinned. 

Allison squeezed his hand again, playfully knocking her head against his shoulder. “So what do you do for a living?” She asked, her eyes twinkling.

Danny laughed. “I have a company that’s sort of like craigslist, but more like a temp service. And there’s a need for people to do just about anything. A company, or a person, will let me know they need someone. For whatever reason. And my company writes up the ad, puts it online, and distributes it to the right places. When we get responses, we run background checks on the people interested, check their references, and give a list of potential employees to whoever’s requested them. If someone needs something at the last minute, we can handle that, too. But it’s not as easy. We’re working on expanding to make that easier. Seeing everything that this show is trying to accomplish, I might even be able to help them out.” 

“That would be incredible.” Allison told him pointedly, gaping. “Why don’t you ask them? You could ask the producers about helping, I bet they’d agree to it.”

“I think there’s a conflict of interest there. Right now, anyway.” Danny pointed out. “Maybe next season.” 

Allison grinned. “Maybe next season.” She agreed.


	16. Day Three: Couple Swap, Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's that longer chapter that we promised would show up eventually. Lydia/Jackson smut.

Lydia greeted the pink-haired production assistant at the airport, self-consciously rubbing her ring finger on her left hand, which was currently devoid of a ring. Everything was, once again, happening much faster than she would have liked. But she had agreed to this change. In the time it had taken her to fly from Las Vegas to Hawaii, her marriage had successfully been annulled and she was about to marry someone that she was pretty sure she was going to hate, despite Danny’s insistence to the contrary. Allison, meanwhile, was going to Las Vegas to marry Danny, who everyone actually knew was gay, but nobody cared. Apparently. 

“If this doesn’t work out, nobody would fault you.” Elmindreda muttered. She grimaced. “And I shouldn’t be saying things like that, my goal is to make sure you actually stay with him.” 

“And will you also be covering his hospital bill when I stab him for being indecent?” Lydia smiled. 

“Um. Probably not?” Elmindreda murmured, looking rattled. She took a deep breath and stared out the window. “I want to ask if you’re serious, but I think you’re serious.” 

“Mm, I am.” Lydia agreed. “I probably could have stayed with Danny for the six weeks and been fine with that. You, the network, and Allison all owe me now.” 

Elmindreda turned toward Lydia, smiling faintly. “This could work.” She murmured. She didn’t say anything more on the drive to the hotel, just handed a room key to Lydia with the room number written on the little paper envelope and pointed out where Lydia could choose a gown for herself and change her clothes. 

Lydia did as instructed, then went to the conference room, which had been set up to look like a small chapel. 

Jackson looked up at her as she entered and - blinked, straightening. “Shit.” He mumbled under his breath, clearing his throat. He licked his lower lip and tried to affect a cooler air. “Looking good.”

“It’s a wedding. Not Grease.” Lydia retorted, smoothing her hands over her skirt and glancing up at Jackson, one eyebrow raised. “You will not treat me like a toy, you will listen to me when I’m telling you that you’re an asshole, and you will modify your behavior. I’m not Allison and I’m not going to deny you sex, but that’s because I can keep that aspect of my life separate from anything romantic. Having said that, I won’t reward you with a chance to fuck me if you act like you’re entitled. I don’t expect this to go beyond six weeks, but I’ll be damned if I let you ruin the next six weeks for me. Are we clear on all of this?” 

Jackson opened his mouth, looking insulted, and then furrowed his brow, the expression turning to confusion. “Wait, so you’re actually willing to spend the six weeks with me without sending me death glares the whole time?” He asked, and then waved his hand dismissively. “And, yeah, we’re clear, whatever, I won’t treat you like my personal plaything.”

“Good.” Lydia smiled sweetly. “I told them that the only way I would agree to this is if they keep the footage of the other weddings and explain that you and I felt we were better suited, and that Allison and Danny agreed to marry one another, as well. So you don’t get a complete rewrite, and if anyone asks me or Allison what happened, we’re not going to lie for you. There are worse ways I could spend my time than being here with you, anyway.” 

Jackson pressed his lips together, then nodded sharply. “Fine. I’ll defend myself and tell everyone that I wanted you so much, I did everything I could on the show to get away from Allison.” He gave her a serious look, staring at her steadily. “Wouldn’t entirely be a lie. Part of me really did want to get away from her.”

“Why?” Lydia ignored the crew members that were trying to get her attention. They could wait. 

“Didn’t want her.” Jackson shrugged. “I mean, I figured if she was into it, then maybe we could have a good time. She’s the only girl I’ve ever met that’s turned me down, though, and I wasn’t about to be stuck on the other end of that high and mighty attitude of hers for another six weeks. But I didn’t want _her_.”

“No? Who did you want, then?” Lydia asked, already knowing that Jackson was going to say he wanted her. She had a feeling that her new husband would have said that to any woman who had agreed to take Allison’s place. 

Jackson raised an eyebrow. “Well… you.” He admitted. “You’re from Beacon Hills, right? We were on the flight to LA together from San Francisco. Well, I mean, me, you, my brother and Danny, anyway. But you were sitting ahead of us by, like, five rows.”

“And Stiles and Scott.” Lydia added, rolling her eyes. “And the pilot, the other passengers...” She closed her eyes, unable to resist taunting him. She doubted he had been listening to the answers that other people gave about eye color, anyway. “What color are _my_ eyes, Jackson?” 

“Green.” Jackson told her. “And you’re a redhead. Well, strawberry blonde. Whatever. It’s, like, the sexiest combo on the planet to me.”

“And if you hadn’t seen Allison as being a, how did you phrase it? Frigid bitch? You would be saying this to her. I’m not naive.” Lydia opened her eyes and stared at him, realizing that the camera crew had started videotaping their conversation. She didn’t care. “Let’s just get this part over with. We have to do the dinner next, then whatever day three was supposed to be for us. We’ll get caught up, everyone will be happy and we can all move on.” 

Jackson shrugged. “Okay. But actually, I wouldn’t be saying any of that to her. She’s hot and everything, but she’s not the hottest I’ve ever seen.” He turned away from Lydia and faced forward.

Lydia moved to stand under the light, opening her compact and reapplying her lipstick. She handed her purse to a crew member, shaking her head a little and smiling at Jackson like she was in love, the same way she had jokingly done with Danny, the night before. 

Jackson tilted his head and smiled crookedly at her, reaching his hand out, palm facing up.

Lydia clasped Jackson’s hand. She took a deep breath, turning her head to greet the minister that was performing their ceremony. She was relieved that he wasn’t the one from her wedding to Danny. 

The minister smiled kindly at the both of them. “Well, you look well suited.” He teased them. “If a little bit tense. Are you ready?”

Jackson relaxed. “I’m definitely ready, padre.”

“We’re both ready, _Father_.” Lydia frowned at Jackson. “You wouldn’t call a doctor something other than doctor. He went to school for his profession, too. Don’t make a mockery of it.” 

Jackson squinted at her. “I wasn’t. What the hell do you think they call priests in Mexico?”

The minister looked skyward and seemed to pray for strength before he held both hands out. “Alright, alright. Let’s begin, shall we?” He drew himself upward. “Jackson and Lydia. The two of you are here today to pledge yourselves to each other in marriage. You are about to make promises to each other that you intend to keep. You are vowing to take care of each other, to stand up for one another, and to find happiness in each other. There is a simple premise to each of these promises: you vow to _be_ there. You are teaming up and saying to each other, ‘Every experience I am going to have, I want you to be a part of.’” He cleared his throat. “Will you, Lydia, keep Jackson as your own, to go on adventures with him, to laugh with him, to support him through life’s tough moments, be proud of him, grow old with him, and find new reasons to love him every day?”

Lydia smiled. She wasn’t planning on this lasting beyond six weeks, but she could handle keeping these vows for that long. “I will.” 

The minister smiled gently at her, and then turned to Jackson, asking him the same.

Jackson hesitated, and then looked up, studying Lydia’s face intently. He inhaled deeply, and then nodded, saying, “I will.” 

The minister beamed at them. “And will you, Jackson and Lydia, be each other’s partners from this day forward? Will you bring out the best in one another, share your happiest moments together, and love each other absolutely, for the rest of this lifetime and for whatever may come next?”

“I will.” Lydia said again. She didn’t see how it was possible to bring out the best in someone who she wasn’t sure had a best to begin with. Despite Danny’s insistence that Jackson was actually a nice guy, she wasn’t convinced. Still, she kept a smile on her face and didn’t look away from Jackson. 

“I will.” Jackson agreed, staring at Lydia with a small smile.

“Then by the power vested in me by the state of Hawaii, I pronounce you husband and wife.” The minister closed his book, his eyes twinkling. “Congratulations.”

Lydia felt like everything was entirely too fake, but she leaned toward Jackson for a kiss, wondering where they were going for dinner. 

Jackson pressed his lips back against hers, carefully because of his still-bruised lip, and ended the kiss with another light one to the corner of her mouth.

Lydia couldn’t help feeling a little sympathetic for Jackson. He had been a jerk since the end of his ceremony to Allison, but the brunette had bitten his lip hard enough that it was obviously still sore a few days later. “I’ll get you some ice after dinner.” She murmured. 

Jackson smiled crookedly. “You don’t have to.” He whispered back. “I know what I did wasn’t cool. It’s the least I can deal with. She could’ve aimed a little lower, punched harder, with something pointier.”

Lydia nodded. “She would have been within her right to.” She agreed. “Come on, I want to try authentic Hawaiian food. We’ll change and go out?” 

Jackson nodded back. “Yeah, that sounds good. Pretty sure they usually have a luau or something on each of the islands, so we could probably find one easily out here.”

Lydia kept her hand in Jackson’s without thinking much about it as she walked down the hall, to the elevator. She liked this dress better than the one she had for her wedding to Danny, and she was almost sad to have to change out of it. 

Jackson pressed the button to the elevator, and then stuck his arm out between the doors to make sure that they didn’t close, gesturing for Lydia to go first. Once he was in the elevator with her, and away from the cameras, he sighed. “Look, I know how I acted was shitty. It was deliberate. I got to Los Angeles, and I’d been hoping I’d be hooked up with you, and I wasn’t. My best friend, who doesn’t even like girls, ended up with you, and I was pissed. And yeah, I treated Allison like shit because of it, but it wasn’t exactly like she was innocent either. If I was a piece of shit clinging to her shoe, it still would’ve been better than how she acted with me.” He went silent. “I shouldn’t have made her cry. But I’ve got a temper, and I don’t always think when I do the shit that I do. I just knew that I wanted you, and I didn’t get you. So - if you don’t want to go past the six weeks with me, I get it. I’ll let you go without protest after filming ends, okay? But… for those six weeks in the meantime, could you maybe… consider giving me a chance? I know I should’ve acted better than I did, but what’s done is done now, right?” He gave her a pleading glance. “I’m really not as much of a douchebag as I act. I swear. And you’ve got full permission to actually kick me in the balls if you see me act like that again.”

“You’re not worth getting blood splatters and urine on my Kate Spades.” Lydia shook her head, smiling. “No more tantrums. You’re a grown man. Aren’t you?” 

Jackson paused. “I’d like to think I am? But the reality is probably much different than what I think.” He turned toward her, hesitantly reaching for her hands. “But I’ll try to act my age.” He murmured, smiling a little hopefully at her.

“How old are you, anyway?” Lydia asked, getting out of the elevator on their floor. She stepped out of her shoes, picking them up to carry them down the hall. She caught sight of the view of the ocean from a hallway window, and she moved toward it, transfixed. 

Jackson moved after her, staring at her with a small smile. He stopped beside her and placed his hands on the windowsill, bracing himself against it as he followed her gaze. “I’m twenty-four.” He murmured. “Old enough to know better, still stupid enough to constantly be called a fuck-up.” He glanced over at her. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-two.” Lydia turned her head to look at him. “I have student loans and plans to get a doctorate in mathematics, but I can’t afford any of that without doing this. And I just got out of a relationship. Recently. He asked me to marry him and I wasn’t interested in being someone’s wife.” She snorted, then looked back out the window. “When I heard about this, all I saw was that it was a chance to get enough money to take care of myself. And then Stiles and Scott signed themselves up and I was a little worried that I’d end up with one of them. There’s nothing wrong with them, we’re friends. Or at last acquaintances. But the idea of being the wife of a cop or a small town veterinarian... the two of them believe in marriage being forever. I don’t.” 

Jackson studied her. “So you don't think marriages can last, then.” He said, looking thoughtfully at her. “Do you think anything could change your mind?”

“Can pigs fly?” Lydia remarked. She sighed. “It would be nice.” She murmured. “To believe in something without any concrete proof. That’s not really who I am.” 

Jackson nodded slowly. “You're rational. There's nothing wrong with that.” He huffed a small laugh. “Hey, if nothing else, you’ll have company for a little while. At least until you don't want it anymore.”

“True.” Lydia pointed out the window. “It looks like there’s something going on out there. I’m going to change and see what they’re doing. Are you coming with me?” 

Jackson nodded. “Yeah. I’m coming with you.”

Lydia smiled and walked down the hall, getting her room key out of her purse and letting herself into the room. “I like it here.” She murmured, looking over her shoulder at Jackson. “I was a little upset that I ended up Las Vegas. If you don’t gamble, there’s no point. And I don’t.” 

“There are other places in Nevada you could have visited, though. The honeymoon was Las Vegas, but there wasn’t really a stipulation that you absolutely had to stay there.” Jackson pointed out. “You could have taken a day and visited Lake Tahoe, if you’d wanted to.” He frowned. “But that… would have been a seven hour drive, and you’d probably have gone out of your mind.”

“I think I would have handled it.” Lydia murmured. “I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to wander off too far from where we ended up. I have to say though, I was a little annoyed that they tried to pass Honolulu and Waikiki off as two different places. But I guess the average person doesn’t understand Hawaiian geography.” She unzipped her dress, carefully hanging it up in the garment bag in the closet, once she had stepped out of it. She wasn’t embarrassed to be seen in her underwear in front of Jackson, she had already said she had no problem having sex with him. She picked out a coral-colored dress from the closet, putting it on and sitting down to put another pair of shoes on. 

Jackson wasn’t in a hurry to change, more interested in watching Lydia. Everything about her turned him on, but he was trying to show her that he could control his baser instincts and be less like he was with Allison. Only when she slipped her dress on did he finally turn away and begin undressing himself, changing into a button-up blue denim shirt and a pair of grayish shorts with a brown belt. He left the button-up open over his bare chest, and shoved on a pair of denim-colored low-top sneakers to match the shirt.

Lydia glanced at Jackson as she got up to brush her hair. “No. Change your shirt. We’re going to dinner in Hawaii, not a trashy club in Miami.” She demanded, going into the bathroom. She piled her hair into a loose bun and pinned it in place. 

Jackson stared down at his shirt, and then looked up at her, confounded. “We’re going to dinner _on a beach_ in Hawaii.” He pointed out, then grimaced when he remembered some of the things he’d promised her, shrugging off the shirt. “Fine.” He gestured at his clothes. “Go nuts.”

Lydia smiled at Jackson, bemused as she picked out a white shirt for him, even though she knew that wasn’t his actual best option. It matched her shoes. She held it out to him, then rummaged through her suitcase and glanced from her jewelry to his shorts, selecting a silver necklace and putting it on. 

Jackson took the shirt, watching her steadily as a small smile grew on his face. “You’re big into matching shit together, aren’t you?” He asked, pulling the shirt on. She looked like a dream and it was driving him nuts not to rush over to her and kiss her.

Lydia nodded. “It wouldn’t look very good if you wore orange and I wore purple. Or blue.” She smiled faintly, thinking of how Stiles would be screaming in indignation at her for saying it. “Let’s go have dinner.” She held her hand out to him. 

Jackson took her hand gladly and smiled at her, threading their fingers together, then tugged her close, unable to resist pressing a kiss on the end of her nose before he led the way out the door.

Lydia laughed. “That was unexpected.” She remarked, glancing at Jackson. She pressed the button for the elevator with her free hand, not letting go of his. 

Jackson shrugged a shoulder, not looking at her, but his lips twitched. “I can be surprising sometimes.” He told her, keeping her hand ensconced in his.

“We’ll see.” Lydia murmured. She was already starting to like him, and that made her a little wary. She didn’t want to get too attached. 

Jackson led her out to the luau, and an expression of glee appeared on his face as he looked around. “This is kind of brilliant.” He blurted. His eyes locked on the enormous fire pit in the sand, and they widened. “What the hell size pig do they have in there?” 

Lydia glanced at the pig, gauging its size before she spoke. “I’d say forty or fifty pounds.” 

Jackson turned to look at her in surprise. “You can tell that just by looking at it?” 

“No, it was an estimate.” Lydia explained. “Mass and weight aren’t the same thing, but mass is length, multiplied by width. And it’s not too hard to imagine something like that weighing forty pounds.” 

“I can barely estimate the size jeans I have to wear if I gain weight without getting someone to measure me.” Jackson murmured, still staring at her. He huffed a laugh. “That’s… kind of… really impressive.”

Lydia smiled, pleased by the compliment. “I have a degree in mathematics. I want the doctorate. I’d like to work at a college, but I would settle for a school. Or anywhere else, I think. I had this idea to be the first woman to win the Fields Medal, but another woman got there first.” 

Jackson wrapped an arm around her cautiously. “Could you be the youngest woman to win the Fields Medal?” He asked.

Lydia laughed. “If I win it next year, maybe.” She leaned against Jackson. “That sort of thing takes a lot more effort than you might think.” 

Jackson relaxed a little, unaware of how tense he’d felt until Lydia had leaned into him. He smiled. “Somehow, I don’t think that’s something that could stop you.” He murmured.

“Maybe not.” Lydia agreed. She glanced up at him, moving toward a table and sitting down. “What about you?” 

Jackson tilted his head back as he sat down beside her. “I’m actually going to… get an MD or a DO in sports medicine.” He admitted to her. “I… it took me a while to decide what I wanted to do when I got to college. I spent too much time goofing off and partying. Playing lacrosse, drinking… all of that stupid first-time-freedom shit.” He shook his head. “I almost got kicked out two years in, and it scared me so badly I dropped off the lacrosse team and left my frat. And then I just bummed around, picking up summer classes and extra classes during the regular year because I didn’t have a single clue what I wanted to do. Eventually, I went back to lacrosse, but I had a better balance of sports and classes.” He smiled crookedly. “And then some two-hundred pound sack of fucking steel slammed into me during a game and broke my leg. I was out, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to be playing ever again. I’m lucky the bastard didn’t tear it off.” Looking over at her, he shrugged. “That was three years ago. I’ve still got problems with this leg, and I figured, if I’d known better, you know, how to take care of it, maybe I could’ve gone back to the game. And then I thought, okay, but what about the other guys that have had much worse injuries, or lighter injuries, but aren’t being taken care of like they should, and are being told that no, they can’t play their games anymore, either, you know?” He smiled faintly. “And then my dumb ass finally realized that they have real jobs for people that want to help, and they’re called doctors. So I talked to my counselor, and she got me started on a path into sports medicine. I’m only the two years in, and I know I’ve got a long way to go, still, but I want to stick it out.”

Lydia found herself listening intently to Jackson before she even realized she was doing it. “There are people who are two or three times as old as you, who still don’t know what they want to do with their lives. You’re not doing badly.” She reached for his hand. “I have a feeling that if you had tried to share this story with Allison, maybe she would have been willing to listen, too. I’m not... I won’t keep reminding you about her.” She tilted her head as she looked at him. “But when these six weeks are up, you might need someone. And I know that Danny had a similar plan to mine, to stick to this for six weeks and then get divorced. Allison will be available, then.” She paused, feeling a little guilty that she was more than likely hurting his feelings, but she pressed on. “And those are two things about me, now. And two things about you. I know that you injured your leg and decided to become a doctor. And you know that I’m working toward a doctorate in mathematics and that I don’t believe in marriage being forever.” She heard shrieking near the pit and saw an object flying toward her from her peripheral vision, giving her just enough time to lean to her side, bringing her arms up to protect the back of her head from whatever was about to hit her. Whatever it was, it hit the table with a loud thump, rattling the glasses and silverware. She sat up slowly, coming face to snout with the pig that had been roasting. 

Jackson stared at the pig in disbelief, breathing heavily in shock. He had one hand thrown across Lydia. Slowly, after a long beat of just sitting there and letting what just happened sink in, he got to his feet, his face turning red. “Who the hell was in charge of that?” He snapped, looking around at the staff and pointing at the pig. “Who was supposed to make sure the flying pig of death stayed grounded? Who’s the bastard that took his eyes off that thing? _Who let that thing nearly murder my wife?!_ ”

Halfway into Jackson’s rant, Lydia calmly got money out of her purse and set it on the table, wondering if she would ever get to have a meal with anyone she married. She glanced at Jackson, the words ‘flying pig’ making her laugh a little. But it wasn’t enough, and she got up from the table and started walking back toward the hotel. 

Finally calming down took some time, and Jackson looked around for Lydia, realizing that she was heading to the hotel. His face fell, and he gulped before he raced after her. “Lydia. Lyds. Lydia, wait, please.”

Lydia turned to face Jackson. “I wasn’t even hurt. Yelling was unnecessary.” She shook her head. “I appreciate the concern, though. Just next time...” Her lips twitched and she laughed. “Next time there’s a pig flying at me, don’t lose your temper.” 

Jackson stared at her sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. His own lips twitched, and his head ducked down as a laugh escaped. “I’m sorry.” He breathed out finally, moving closer to her. He reached for her hands carefully, looking at her. “That was a one in a million thing. And… it was really close. It landed really close. I don’t… really want to think about what would have happened if it had been any closer. I freaked out.” He grimaced. “I might have had the words ‘I’ll sue you’ getting ready to come out if I hadn’t turned around and seen that you were leaving.” He tugged her a little closer, and then stepped forward again, wrapping his arms around her. “I don’t want you to get hurt. I know you don’t believe in marriage. I’m pretty sure I don’t either, but… I want you with me, at least for these next few weeks. I don’t want to think about moving on with anyone else right now.” _Or ever,_ he thought.

“It’s a bad habit.” Lydia murmured. “For you to lose your temper like that. I want to know that our time together won’t be something I’m extremely eager to forget about.” 

Jackson swallowed. “I’m hoping it won’t be.” He said softly, stepping back a little. He laced his fingers together with hers. After a moment, he said softly, “I think… I think I could make you happy. At least a little bit.”

“Why do you think that?” Lydia asked, her tone matching his. “I’m not looking to be happy, I’m looking for a payout. I know that’s harsh, but I won’t pretend this is something that it isn’t. If we have fun, if we have sex, if we argue or ignore each other, that’s fine with me. Six weeks will still be six weeks.” 

Jackson’s jaw tightened a little, but he didn’t answer her. Eventually, he exhaled and nodded. “Okay.” He muttered. “Six weeks it is. I can deal with that.”

Lydia nodded. She was a little wary of sharing a hotel room with someone who had already displayed his volatile temper on more than one occasion, but she didn’t think he would hurt her. She thought he might throw something and she would end up dealing with that in one way or another. She took a deep breath, reminding herself about the money as she walked back into the building. 

Jackson stuffed his hands in his pockets, following her. By the time they got up to the hotel room, he was feeling entirely too sorry for himself and hating every minute of it. Ducking his head to take a look inside the mini bar, he tugged out a bottle of water, and then grabbed another before turning to look at Lydia. “I’m sorry dinner got ruined.” He mumbled. “We could… order room service, if you want?” He suggested, offering the other bottle to her.

“I want dessert.” Lydia said decisively. “Something with a lot of chocolate.” She gave Jackson a grateful smile and opened the bottle, taking a sip as she took off her shoes. She put them back in the closet and sat down on the couch. 

Jackson smiled back at her, then turned with a sigh and reached for the in-room menu, quietly putting in an order for both himself and Lydia, then hung up and toed off his sneakers, tucking them back into the closet as well and flopping back on the couch with another sigh, this time more relaxed.

Lydia moved closer to Jackson and put her head down on his shoulder. “Do you want to have sex after we eat?” 

Jackson wrapped his arm around her. “I definitely don’t have a problem with that.” He told her, peering down at her.

“Good.” Lydia smiled. “Because I’m pretty sure the batteries in my vibrator are dead, and I don’t feel like going shopping for more.” She stared at him, her lips curving into a smile. 

Jackson sat up a little, raising his eyebrows in interest. “Well, don’t give up on it just yet. It could come in handy later.” He murmured, his lips twitching. He leaned in to kiss her cheek lightly.

Lydia moved to sit on Jackson’s lap, putting her hands on his shoulders as she kissed him. She reached down a moment later and unfastened the button on his shorts. 

Jackson wound his arms around her waist, his fingers stroking at her hips as he kissed her back. He arched his hips and reached for his zipper, tugging it down for her.

Lydia moved back and got down on her knees, leaning over Jackson’s thighs. She had her mouth open and was moving her hand toward his erection, intent on tugging him free of his underwear, when there was a knock on the door. 

Jackson let out a whine of frustration and dropped his head to the back of the sofa. “Well. That’ll be room service.” He sighed, then stared down at himself. Clearing his throat a little, he grinned crookedly. “Want me to get the door?”

“Are you going to do it without fixing your pants?” Lydia couldn’t help laughing as she stood up. “Fine, but you’d better give him a big tip.” 

Jackson choked on a laugh, his palm covering his face. “Oh, christ, you make puns. You’re fucking perfect.” He blurted. Standing up, he yanked at his shorts, tugging them back up and letting them rest on his hips before he went to the door.

Lydia stared after Jackson, not sure if his compliment made her feel happy or terrified. Her heart was beating faster and she didn’t want to move as she watched him. She knew she wasn’t perfect and she hoped he didn’t expect her to be. She knew in that moment that she was in trouble, because she wanted him to like her, but not for who he wanted her to be. She had more attraction to him in the past couple of hours than she had ever felt toward Jordan. “Damn it.” She whispered, turning and sitting down on the couch. 

Jackson walked back to the couch with the food and set it down on the table in front of Lydia. “Alright, I got the chocolatiest thing they had on the menu for you, and ice cream for me.” He told her, and took the lid off the tray, showing her the chocolate and macadamia ganache beneath. He paused and stared at her. “Are you alright?”

Lydia glanced up at Jackson. “I think you’re going to hate me after I say this.” She murmured. “Because I know I wouldn’t like someone who kept changing their mind on things.” She sighed shakily. “And there’s this part of me that wants me to slow down and think before I say this, but for once, I’m not listening. I feel like if I stop thinking about money and a timeline, I might actually enjoy this. I like that I’m here with you. Danny tried to tell me that we would be good together, yesterday. I thought he was being rude. I didn’t know that you were like this.” 

Jackson stared at her for a long moment, then started to look everywhere else. “So what - what are you trying to say, Lydia?” He asked. “Because you said I’d hate you after you said it. Nothing you said… I mean, it’s not making me hate you. It’s making me nervous as fuck that you’re gonna walk.”

“I’m trying to say that maybe I won’t.” Lydia said softly. “You’ve got a bad temper and you need help picking out clothes.” She smiled. “And I need someone who will yell at a waiter for throwing food at me and remind me to go to sleep when I’ve been awake for twenty hours straight, working on theorems.” 

Jackson straightened up. “You want to stay?” He asked, staring at her. “With me?” He added in an unnecessary but paranoid attempt to clarify. He sat down on the couch next to her, reaching for her hand. “You’re serious about this? You’re really willing to give me a shot?”

Lydia nodded. “I told you I just ended a relationship. Jordan and I were together for a couple of years.” She paused, thinking over what she wanted to say. “It was comfortable. I didn’t realize it was also boring until today, of all days. We never argued. He never got passionate about anything. He had good manners, and he always used them. I thought I liked predictable, and then he proposed and we hadn’t even _talked_ about it first, and I felt like he was a complete stranger. I said no because I realized I would have been marrying someone who did things like ask me to marry him without even asking me what kind of ring I wanted. I know it’s a contradiction. I’m still trying to figure myself out, I suppose. But I want... this.” She gestured around the room. “I want the guy that takes a few years to realize what he wants to do with his life, who needs to have the answer staring him in the face for a little while, instead of just... I don’t have all the answers. I don’t want someone with all the answers. I don’t want the easy answers. I want to yell at you to stop yelling at other people and I want the insanity of flying pigs at dinner.” She laughed. “God. Jordan would have been following me around and demanding to know if I was okay for... probably hours. I’m not that delicate.” 

Jackson flailed a hand at her. “Well, hell, I know _that_ much! I knew you were okay, but I had to rage a little.” He blurted. “If I wanted a delicate flower that had to be kept in a glass vase or something, I wouldn’t have wanted _you_ so damn much. You’re…” He stared at her. “If we’re doing flower comparisons, you’re a rose, if anything. Gorgeous to look at, strong as hell, and thorny enough to make any dumbass think twice about just grabbing you.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “I don’t know how to control my temper, Lyds. I’m an asshole. I can be an insensitive bastard. I’m not nice and polite, and I’m not the sort of guy that most girls want to build a life with, not unless they happen to get a look at my bank account. But…” His hand crept down to wrap around hers. “When I’m devoted to you, I’m only devoted to _you_. I’m yours. And… I’m gonna cherish you. And I’m gonna be the stupid jackass that screams at waitstaff when they put you in danger, and I’m gonna be the corporate asshole that threatens to sue when shit like that happens. I need you to call me out on that shit, to snap at me when I’m being unreasonable, and when I’m losing my cool, and when I scare some poor waitress for… dropping soup in your lap.” He sighed and leaned forward. “I can’t apologize for that. I can’t apologize for being who I am. But… if you really do want to be with me, I’m yours. I’m so yours. I’m yours a hundred times over.”

Lydia smiled and put her arms around Jackson. She closed her eyes for a moment, then remembered that they had ordered dessert. She looked up at her husband and smiled again, kissing him lightly on the mouth. “Eat your ice cream.” She commanded, pressing her lips together in an effort to stop smiling. It wasn’t working. She reached for her own dessert, glancing at Jackson again. 

Jackson hiked her into his lap, kissing her, grinning back at her. “I will, but I have a request.” He trailed his fingers up her back. “Can I eat it off of you?”

Lydia laughed. She stared at Jackson as she finished her dessert, then set the bowl aside and reached down to gather the hem of her dress in her hands. She pulled the fabric up and off of her skin, tossing it somewhere behind her before she looked at him again. “Maybe.” 

Jackson took her down to the ground in an instant, leaning over her intently. He bent his head down and kissed her fiercely, his hand reaching for the table and fumbling for the bowl of ice cream. “Maybe no, or maybe yes?” He struggled to say between kisses, trailing his lips over her neck and chest before wrapping his lips around one of her nipples.

Lydia whimpered. “Y-yes.” She nodded. “And then we’re taking a shower in that ridiculously oversized stall in the bathroom.” 

“You’re goddamn right we are.” Jackson blurted, sticking his fingers in the ice cream before smoothing it over her other nipple and switching sides, sucking at her roughly.

Lydia wrapped a leg around Jackson’s waist, tilting her head back. She bit down on her lip, her fingers clawing at the carpet underneath her. 

Jackson cupped her other breast as he sucked at her nipple, his hips moving against her steadily.

“Fuck me.” Lydia blurted. “Just take off your clothes already.” 

Jackson laughed and shucked off the shirt he was wearing, tossing it to the side before sliding his shorts down his hips, followed by his boxers. He tilted his head up to kiss her as he slid inside of her, holding her hips tightly as he began to move.


	17. Day Three: Stiles and Cora

Stiles flopped down on his stomach on the bed, looking at Cora. “We have to say two things about ourselves that the other person doesn’t know yet. So you tell me two things, I’ll tell you two things, and we can go on about our day.” He laughed. 

Cora flipped over onto her back, laughing. “Does it count if I can tell you, like… what color my fur is when I’m shifted?”

“Yes!” Stiles blurted. “Tell me.” He watched his wife, still feeling awestruck that he was married and she was actually cool. 

Cora twitched her nose at him playfully. “I’d rather show you, but I’ve got a feeling the hotel staff might catch wind of a wolf running around on one of their floors.” She grinned. “My wolf might as well be a puppy. Oh, I think I’ve got a picture on my cell phone of us, maybe.” She flailed around for the phone and scooted closer to Stiles as she pulled up her photo album. Jabbing triumphantly at the picture in question, she enlarged it. “It’s from an actual picture my mom took and scanned, when my dad was still alive.” She smiled faintly, leaning against him. “See, that’s him, the giant black bear looking wolf thing that looks like he regrets everything.” She giggled. Her finger trailed down the screen faintly to a pint-sized wolf pup with dark gray fur and black markings. “And… that’s me. Dark gray all over. My belly is white. The black pup that looks like he wants to murder the brown one are my brother and sister.” Her finger moved again, hovering. “That’s my uncle Peter, with the all brown fur, and that little cuddle bug he’s holding with his teeth is Malia.” Her cousin was clearly fighting her father’s hold in the photo, and it made Cora grin wider. Her eyes moved back to the image of her father’s wolf form. “Derek looks just like my dad. But he’s got my mom’s eyes. Lo and I took after Mom.”

Stiles turned his head and leaned toward Cora to kiss her. “I’d like to be around all of you when you’re shifting like this.” He murmured. “It sounds like it would be incredible to see.” He tried to think of something he could tell her, in return. He knew exactly what he needed to say, and he took a deep breath and squirmed a little. “I was almost engaged, before. Like, a year ago. I’d been dating this girl for awhile, and I was saving up to get her a ring. I was actually in the store and picking something out when she called me and said she was breaking up with me. So I almost got kicked out, I was a mess for about a month straight. Scott went to all of my professors to tell them what had happened. I was kind of mortified, but they all gave me an extension on things I was falling behind on. Then he shoved me into the shower and made me eat an actual meal. He threw out all of my alcohol and wouldn’t leave until I got caught up on everything. If I started bitching, he just stared at me until I shut up and went back to working on my assignments. I owe him for that. I thought this would help him. And me. And I think it has, but...” He licked his lips, then pressed on with what he was telling Cora. “I had a crush on Lydia, as a kid. And right on through half of high school. And then it finally hit me that one, I liked guys as much as I liked girls. And two, Lydia wasn’t interested in being... basically, my manic pixie dream girl. She wasn’t going to fix my life, she wasn’t the cure for things I was either dwelling on or ignoring. So I finally saw her as a person, and I didn’t want her anymore. She went on to date this guy, a deputy that worked for my dad. And he asked her to marry him, and she said no. We’re from a small town, and everyone wouldn’t shut the hell up about it. I had this moment of insanity that if she was signing up, and _I_ signed up, then maybe people would see something that I’d seen for years, as a kid. Or that if that didn’t work out, that maybe Scott would end up with her. He’s amazing, she’s amazing. They’d be great together. Would have been, I mean. But I’m with you and I don't regret a second. And I haven’t gotten any miserable texts from Scott in more than twelve hours. The last thing he said to me was that he’s not a bunny rabbit, he’s a wolf. I don’t know what the hell that even _means_ , but I know that Malia can’t turn him, she’s not an alpha. So anyway, there was also a smiley face. He’s happy.” 

Cora snorted out a laugh. “Well, at least they got over whatever it was that was stopping them from… ah, connecting.” She draped her legs over his lazily, putting an arm behind her head before she looked at him. “Lydia seems like someone I would like. I’m not sorry she didn’t notice you, or see you the way you wanted her to, since it means I got you without even having to fight for it in the end. But I am sorry for all the bullshit you had to put up with. Frankly, if I ever see this other girl, the one that broke you, I will take great pleasure in shoving our relationship down her throat.” She kissed him lightly. “As for all of us changing in front of you, don’t worry. It’s bound to happen.” She grinned.

Stiles smiled back. “Okay, I told you my two dark secrets. I want another one of yours.” He laughed. “And then we’ll order breakfast.” 

Cora snorted. “I thought _I_ was breakfast.” She teased him. “Alright. Well…” She thought for a moment. “Um. Well, at one point… uh, I was… definitely not the person you see me as now.” She sighed. “I was a total late bloomer. Like, yeah, my wolf side came in early and everything, I was two in that picture I showed you, but… me as I am. The… attitude, the body, everything else… didn’t happen until I was, like, sixteen. I don’t know if it was because of my wolf coming in so early, or if it was something else, but all of a sudden, I was dealing with fifty things coming in at once. I had to get braces, which meant I couldn’t shift because can you imagine a freaking wolf with braces on? I had pimples. I’d never had pimples before. I had boobs and an ass out of nowhere when I’d been, you know, mostly flat. It was fucking miserable, especially going to school in LA where pretty much every kid has a freaking plastic surgeon on speed dial.” She rolled her eyes. “Plus, you know, the sudden monthly thing wasn’t exactly a joy.”

Stiles nodded in understanding, his expression straight-faced. “Yeah, car insurance sucks.” 

Cora snorted, smacking his chest. “You know what I mean. Anyway. I got made fun of a lot, which was okay when Derek and Lo were at school _with_ me, since they were fully developed wolf-wise and could scare the piss out of anyone that messed with me. But once they were gone, it was just me and Mal.” She shrugged, thinking of Malia’s sudden regression, and deciding not to mention it. “And then it was just me.” She blinked at him. “I didn’t have sex until I was nineteen. Not that that’s old, you know, but it sure as hell felt like it was.”

“I was eighteen before I even kissed anyone.” Stiles smiled crookedly. “So I understand how it is. It was weird for me, though. Like, nobody was paying any attention to me, nobody wanted to date me. And then suddenly, everybody wanted my phone number. College is weird. And apparently makes people use redundant phrases.” 

Cora shrugged again, a grin twitching on her face. “Shit happens. There’s a phrase for you.” She swung one leg over both of his and sat on him, leaning down to kiss him. “Guess you were a late bloomer, too. But I bet you were cute as hell when you were younger.”

“I had a buzz cut until I was sixteen.” Stiles laughed. “I was a dork. Still am a dork, but now I have a hot wife, so nobody cares.” 

Cora laughed, kissing him again, and then pressing a kiss to his nose. “You might be a dork, but now you’re _my_ dork.” She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. “I can’t imagine you without this, though. I want pictures. When I meet your dad, I’m harassing him for pictures.”

“I have a hot, _evil_ wife.” Stiles grinned. “But yeah, that’s fine. I’ll get to look at pictures of you, too. It’s only fair.” 

“You already looked at a picture of me, you don’t need to see anymore.” Cora teased him. “That picture is the equivalent of seeing my baby self naked in the bathtub, alright?”

“No, I want to see twelve year old you.” Stiles blinked. “Okay, that didn’t sound creepy at all.” 

Cora scoffed a little, and then looked at him hesitantly. “You really wanna see a picture of younger me?” She asked carefully.

“Yes.” Stiles nodded. “I want to hear all of your stories and see all of your pictures. I want to tell everyone I know that I met you because fate and a bunch of people intervened and put us together. I want to get old with you and yell at our grandkids that they’re dumbasses for having like, teleport parties and eating their meals in little capsule form.” 

Cora stared at him, gaping before she started shaking her head. “Holy shit, I want you in my life forever.” She told him honestly, breathing in shakily.

“Yeah?” Stiles asked, feeling a little out of breath, himself. He stared at her. “Because seriously, me too. I want to stay married to you.” 

Cora beamed at him, throwing her arms around him. “Me too. I want to stay married to you, too. Oh, god, Mom totally wins, I’ll never fight with her on the shit she tells me to do ever again, not if it gets me something - someone - like you.” She kissed him.

Stiles kissed back, waving a hand and pointing at the door to tell the camera crew to leave the room. He listened for the door to close behind them, ignoring their laughter. He knew they had the footage they wanted, anyway. Once he and Cora decided to leave the room again, whenever that was, the crew could follow them wherever. He didn’t care anymore. 

Cora fumbled for the alarm clock on the table at the side of the bed and chucked it after the crew before rolling herself and Stiles over until he was above her.

Stiles smiled proudly down at Cora and kissed her again, then kissed her neck as he started grinding against her. 

Cora let out a keening whine, spreading her thighs for him instantly and thrusting back up against him.

Stiles groaned. “Are you... do you want kids? Like, ten months from now?” He blinked, looking down at her. “I want at least two, but my limit is like, five. And that’s if I feel like going insane with trying to pay bills and buy school supplies and stuff like that.” He smiled. “If you don’t want any, we’ll... we’ll figure it out. Because I do.” 

Cora snorted out a laugh and tugged him down to her for another kiss. “I want kids, Stiles.” She murmured, nuzzling against him. “I love being a part of a large family. My family will definitely be willing to help out, god knows we’ve still got notebooks that Laura never used when she went through her ‘I’m gonna be a famous writer’ phase.”

“Did Twilight cause that, or ruin it for her?” Stiles laughed. “Can I ask her?” 

Cora laughed. “You can definitely ask her, but I’m pretty sure that whatever she actually says, the answer is yes.”

Stiles grinned. “I really want you to meet Scott. I mean, beyond the few minutes you got to talk to him.” 

Cora wound her arms around him, smiling up at him. “Oh, I will. If he and Malia aren’t having problems anymore, maybe they’ll actually last and make it home. The Hale family just had more weddings in thirty-six hours than they’ve had in the last six years.”

Stiles nodded. He sat back on his knees and reached down to pull Cora’s underwear off. 

Cora lifted her legs straight up in the air to help him, grinning coyly as she let them slide back down around him. “Baby-making round one,” she teased, reaching between them to shift his boxers down.

Once his boxers were off, Stiles moved down to kiss Cora’s thighs. He didn’t want their honeymoon to end, but they only had a week before they had to go back to Los Angeles. 

Cora stretched herself out across the bed, arching up toward him eagerly. “Make the most of it.” She murmured to him, reaching out to cover one of his hands with hers.

Stiles pushed Cora’s thighs further apart and pressed inside her with his tongue, making a pleased sound at how she tasted. 

Cora slumped back against the bed, moaning softly. Her hips canted upward, insistently pressing toward him and nodding eagerly. “Yeah, Stiles,” she breathed out, shutting her eyes.

Stiles slid his hands under Cora’s hips, holding her up as he ate her out, eager to make her come. He wanted to be back on top of her and inside her, but he knew there was time for everything that either of them could even think of doing together. 

“Oh, my god,” Cora blurted, nearly bowing in half and panting desperately. “Stiles, Stiles, oh god.” Her hand flailed in the air and then flopped against his head, gently holding him against her as she moved. The amount of friction and pressure she suddenly felt meant it didn’t take long for her to come, her mouth falling open and a high-pitched wail escaping her throat.

Stiles glanced up at her as he sat up again, licking his lips. He wrapped a hand around his cock and pushed inside her in one deep thrust as he moved over her again, groaning. “Jesus. Why does anyone ever go anywhere for a honeymoon? They should just lock themselves in their bedrooms.” 

Cora yelped, throwing her arms around him and hanging onto him tightly. “Tradition,” she blurted. “Good tradition. Like this tradition.”

Stiles laughed against Cora’s neck as he started thrusting harder into her. 

Cora moaned breathily against his temple, limbs wrapped around him like a limpet. She could dimly hear the headboard of the bed begin slamming against the wall, and something pleased unfurled in her chest, causing her to let out a delighted growl. 

“Oh my god.” Stiles blurted. The sound of her growl had made him come, and he was still and silent for a long moment, not sure what to do. “Oh my god. Okay, on the one hand, that was embarrassing. On the other hand, mission accomplished?”

Cora stared up at him, grinning slowly. “If my growling can make you come when you're on the edge, do you think growling again can make you hard?”

“Maybe?” Stiles smiled back. “Probably.” 

Cora wiggled under him playfully, then buried her face in his neck, taking a deep breath. A low rumble escaped her throat.

Stiles’ hips jerked involuntarily, and he kissed Cora. “There we go.”

Cora giggled, kissing him back. “Oh, this is fun knowledge. This is like walking into a room full of people, sitting in your lap and calling you ‘Daddy’.”

“Is that something you’re into?” Stiles asked, not sure if he was turned on or horrified. 

Cora scrunched her face up thoughtfully. “Not sure. I was mostly going off pornos. They do that crap, right?”

“Am I an expert in porn?” Stiles asked, smiling innocently. 

Cora grinned at him. “I don’t know, are you?” She teased, grasping his upper arms.

“Caught me.” Stiles laughed. “Most people don’t get the difference between ‘in porn’ and ‘on porn,’ when I make that joke.” 

Cora cupped his face, kissing him. “I wouldn’t mind. If you were, I mean. FYI.” She giggled.

“I might have inadvertently done a few things.” Stiles shrugged one shoulder. “Nothing where my face was visible. On camera. Legally.” 

Cora’s eyes were wide. “If there is videotape proof, I wanna see!” She blurted. 

“Nah, it was webcam stuff.” Stiles blushed faintly. “I was buying a video game I wanted, and some girls thought I worked at the store, so they were asking me for help with finding a good camera. They ended up telling me about the site they signed up with and how much money they were making, and it sounded pretty good to me.” 

Cora stared at him. “You were a camboy?” She asked faintly, her eyes wide. “What site? Maybe I've actually seen you.”

“It was triple-C dot com.” Stiles laughed, putting his head down on Cora’s shoulder and sighing. “Cali College Cam. Dumbest name for a site, I know. But it’s not like I’m the one that made it.” 

Cora wrapped her arms around him, kissing his forehead with a laugh. “Are they still on there, maybe?” She asked, her eyes glinting coyly and her lips turning up.

“Maybe.” Stiles mused. “You want to see if you can find me?” 

Cora pulled him down. “Not right now.” She murmured, smiling.


	18. Day Three: Scott and Malia

Malia sighed as she read over the directions for the third day. “We have to tell each other two things.” She muttered. “I don’t like carrots. Or spaghetti. Your turn.”

Scott looked appalled. “Why the hell don't you like spaghetti?” He blurted. “I mean, carrots I get, you chew too much of them and they leave little bits of orange stuck in your teeth and sometimes they just taste _weird_ , but spaghetti is awesome.”

“If you don’t cook it long enough, it’s crunchy. If you cook it too long, it’s gooey. It doesn't taste good cold, but you can’t eat it when it’s hot. People always want to put stuff on it. If you have to dump a bunch of sauce on spaghetti in order to eat it, you don’t like it. You like the sauce. Just eat that.” Malia stared back at Scott as she finished ranting. “You didn’t say two things, you just complained about one of mine. Say yours now.”

Scott’s lips twitched. “Okay. I have asthma. It sucks and it makes doing anything sort of blow.” He looked at her. “Yes, including sex.” He cleared his throat. “And, uh. I’m a veterinarian at the local clinic back home. I was in training back when I first started the job when I was fifteen.” He smiled proudly. “And now I'm in charge of it.”

Malia smiled back at him. “That sounds cool.” 

Scott preened a little. “I like to think it is, yeah. Plus, I've got a little extra advantage because of it.” He tilted his head, smiling at her. “I've got an idea now of how wolf physiology works, so… If anything ever happens to a wolf in the area, they can be brought to me. I can take care of them.”

Malia nodded. “I’m kind of jealous of you right now. You had your life figured out while I was still stuck in wolf form. I don’t like people enough to get a job with them.”

“You could get a job with me.” Scott suggested with a shrug. 

“Yeah? Don’t I need a few years of college?” Malia looked hesitant. “Because I don’t want that.” 

Scott smiled gently. “You don’t have to go to college if you don’t want to. If all you want to do is take the animals out of their cages and hold them for me when I check on them, or play with them, or whatever? You can do that. I’m not going to order you around. If you have an idea what you want to do when you start - if you want to start working with me, that is - then tell me, and we’ll work with it.”

“I can try it.” Malia nodded. “I’m not so sure I’ll be a great person to work with. But I’ll try.” 

Scott leaned toward her, kissing her cheek. “That’s all you’ve gotta do.” He told her simply. “And if it doesn’t work out, we’ll find something else. Anything you want.”

“You’re really nice.” Malia murmured, turning her head to kiss him. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” Scott kissed her, lifting his hand to brush through her hair. “I try to be.” He said again softly.

Malia leaned against Scott, sighing. “Do you want to do anything else today?” 

Scott turned his head and burrowed his face in her hair. “I can think of a couple of things, but if there's anything you want to do, tell me.”

“I just want to go for a walk. A long one.” Malia smiled lazily, then closed her eyes. “But staying here is good, too.” 

Scott stretched out beside her, nuzzling her neck. “I don't have a problem with either of those options.” He told her, wrapping his arms around her waist. 

“Okay.” Malia kissed Scott again and got up from the bed, opening her suitcase. She started changing her clothes, putting on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. 

“Oh, we’re getting up,” Scott laughed. “Okay.” He sat up, unable to help himself from moving behind Malia and cupping her ass, dropping a kiss to her neck.

Malia pressed back against Scott, smiling. “We should be like this all the time. Quit your job, I’ll find someone that can turn you, we’ll run around the woods together.” 

Scott laughed, pressing against her and nibbling at her throat. “Wait, can’t your aunt turn me?” He asked, picking her up playfully.

“Yeah, if you want her to.” Malia laughed. She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. “It would fix your asthma.” 

Scott lifted his head up a little to study her. “It would?” He asked softly. “Because… I mean…” He bit his lower lip. “I didn’t say this before, but… it’s really bad asthma. If I don’t have a way to constantly treat it, a way to constantly make sure that I’m looking after myself and not giving my body a reason to, you know, react… Um, I could end up in the hospital. And worst case scenario… I could die.”

“I don’t want you to die!” Malia blurted. “We’ll talk to her as soon as we’re back in Los Angeles.” 

Scott grimaced, looking upset. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to tell you that to freak you out. It’s a one-in-a-million chance for that to happen. I’ve been in the hospital before, though, and I hate it. My mom works there. I don’t want to see the look on her face if I end up there again. This is basically… preventative measures, I guess?” He pressed his lips to Malia’s forehead. “Anyway, yeah. We can talk to her in Los Angeles. Maybe she can come visit us.”

“She will.” Malia laughed. “She doesn’t let anyone tell her no when she thinks something is important.” 

Scott smiled at her. “I can’t wait to meet her, then.” He murmured, lifting his hand to cup Malia’s jaw and ducking his head to kiss her.


	19. Day Three: Erica and Theo

Theo held the envelope marked as ‘day three’ out to Erica. “You want to open this one?” He was enjoying his time with her, and he understood that he had signed an agreement that he and Erica would be recorded periodically for the next six weeks. But he just wanted to be alone with her. 

Erica reached for the envelope, smiling at him. “Don’t mind if I do.” She said, giggling. Sliding her finger under the lip, she ripped the top of the envelope straight across and slid out the paper before curling up next to him. “We each have to tell each other two things about ourselves.” She huffed out a laugh. “I feel like I’ve been telling nothing _but_ things about myself.”

“Me too.” Theo laughed. “But I can do it again.” He thought for a minute. “Or maybe not? I feel like I’ve told you everything about myself.” 

Erica smiled. “Well… Maybe you could tell me two other things instead. Like… Things you want for yourself in the future? Or… maybe you could ask me some other things.”

“Hmm, okay.” Theo put his arms around Erica. “I want a kitten. I know most people like dogs, but I think they’re too needy. I want a pet that will remind me to feed it, but mostly kind of leave me alone.” 

Erica snorted out a laugh, snuggling back against him. “So you want a pet that’ll grow up and treat you like they own you, not the other way around?” She teased, looking up at him. “I always wanted pets.” She admitted, sighing. “I tried to bring home a kitten once. I think I was… eight or nine. My mom screamed at the poor thing so loud and long that it took off the second there was any opening in the house.” She looked down. “Found out later that one of the kids from school found her and kept her. I was so angry, I yelled at my mother for it. She…” She bit her lip. “She locked me in my room.” Huffing and shaking her head in an effort to laugh it off, she added, “It was like I was a modern day Harry Potter or something. She made me a cup of soup, opened the door long enough to shove it in at me, then locked it back up again.” She went silent. “Later, for dinner, I got a slice of toast.”

“I don’t like your mom.” Theo frowned. “I’m glad I have you, now. I won’t let her do that to you ever again.” There was one thing he had been avoiding asking, and he sighed and did it. “How old are you, Erica?” 

Erica looked up at him hesitantly. “Twenty. Is that… is that bad?” She asked carefully.

“Not even a little bit. I’m twenty-four.” Theo smiled, kissing her. “I thought you might be eighteen. Which still isn’t bad, just that I would feel awkward if you were that young and marrying me to get away from your mom. It’s okay if that’s what you’re doing, anyway. I just... I want to know that I’m not keeping you from living a life you want, that’s all.” 

Erica softened, reaching up to hug him and resting her head against his shoulder. “No. I wouldn’t do that.” She paused. “Well, I mean, I _am_ using this show as a way to get away from my mother, but you…” She looked shy. “You, I wasn’t expecting.” Her voice softened even more, and there was the hint of a smile in it. “You took me by surprise in the best way.”

“I’m glad.” Theo ran his fingers through Erica’s hair. 

Erica nuzzled against him, and then sighed, shaking her head. “Okay. What’s something else? Anything you want to know about me?” She looked sheepish. “I’ll try to keep it from being depressing.”

“You’re not depressing.” Theo corrected. “Did you ever have a boyfriend or go on a date, before this?” 

Erica shook her head, then hesitated, scrunching up her nose. “Once. Although I don’t really know if it counts, exactly. It was - my dad was still around, and my mom was much less… who she was. And there was a party that one of the kids at school was throwing for… I don’t know, their birthday or something. And… a girl named Caitlyn asked me if I wanted to go with her.” She snorted. “I know I was really young, but… I don’t know, maybe it still counts. It… we didn’t really hang out together, we just… got there together, and then she had someone pick her up, and my dad picked me up. That was all.”

“Did you want to kiss her?” Theo asked softly, turning his head a little to look at Erica. “No need to be embarrassed, if you did.” 

Erica smiled and sighed. “I never really got a chance to find out for sure. But… I think I may have wanted to. Just to… see, you know?”

“I’d be okay with it.” Theo smiled back at his wife. “I like guys. Well, sometimes.” 

Erica’s eyes crinkled at the corners, and she let out a laugh. “Yeah? What kind of guys? Maybe our interests sync up.” She teased him.

Theo laughed. “I don’t know, exactly? It’s more about personality than appearance. Well, sort of. I like guys that aren’t really muscular, I guess. I mean, I am. I don’t want a guy that’s like me, in that regard. I like to flirt, so a guy that flirts back gets my attention.” 

Erica leaned against him. “Hmm. I’m not good at making first moves.” She looked at Theo and smiled. “At least, I wasn’t until you. I kind of think anyone else would have to be the one approaching me. Otherwise, they’d probably never get anywhere with me.” 

“What are you attracted to, though? Physically.” Theo kissed Erica’s cheek. “Anything in particular?” 

“Eyes.” Erica blurted immediately, looking up at Theo. She smiled sheepishly. “I’m a sucker for pretty eyes.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that one. Eyes get to me, too.” Theo bit his lip. He felt like the question might be dangerous, but he had to know her answer. “Was there someone else that you thought was hot, the day we got married?” 

“Lydia.” Erica answered without thinking. She blinked and straightened a little. “Huh. I didn’t expect that.” She looked at Theo. “She was nice to me, before the weddings. And… well, I mean, she’s completely beautiful. I wouldn’t have jumped her or anything, but… I - you know, objectively.” She looked embarrassed.

Theo laughed lightly, relieved that Erica mentioned a girl instead of another guy. He didn’t feel threatened. “I didn’t notice.” He said honestly. “I was only looking at you.”


	20. Day Three: Derek and Kira

Kira grinned at Derek and sat down by him, at breakfast. “Good morning.” 

Derek smiled back at her and slid a tray over to her. “Good morning.” He greeted, leaning in to kiss her lightly. “I wasn’t sure what you were in the mood for, so I just grabbed you some of everything.”

Kira laughed. “Thank you.” She leaned toward him for a second kiss. “I like Cheerios. But not just the plain ones, all the time. I don’t like the frosted ones. But I like the apple cinnamon kind. Do you like cereal?” 

Derek laughed. “I do. I don’t always have time for it, but I like Cheerios, too. My sister and I used to con our mom into buying every flavor, and then we’d mix them up together in one bowl to eat them.”

“Oh, that sounds good.” Kira grinned. “I should try that.” 

“I think you’d like it. They have more flavors now than they did when I was younger.” Derek told her. “So. I know you’re a kitsune. I know you have some of your tails. I know you inherited from your mother, and that your dad doesn’t have a lick of supernatural in his body.” He gazed at her curiously. “What type of kitsune _are_ you?”

“Thunder.” Kira blinked. “Is that bad?” 

Derek grinned and glanced down, shaking his head. “Not the least little bit.” He lifted a hand and traced it over her cheekbone and jawline. “Although we may need to be pretty careful that we don’t, ah, get too carried away. I doubt the last thing either of us needs is charred fur smell in our bedroom.” He teased.

Kira blushed. “It doesn’t quite work like that. Or at least, I don’t think it does.” 

Derek let out a thoughtful noise. “Well… I’ve never known another wolf to mate or marry _any_ kind of kitsune.” His eyes softened. “I guess we’ll just have to play this one by ear.”

Kira felt a little pressured, but she didn’t think Derek was doing that to her on purpose. He had made it clear that he wanted to consummate their marriage, but she wasn’t ready yet. She had only known him a few days and it just seemed like it was too soon. She cleared her throat a little, changing the subject. “I was thinking we could go whale watching today.” 

Derek straightened. “That sounds like a really good idea.” He murmured. He’d practically felt Kira’s heartbeat skip, and he wasn’t sure what had caused it - but he knew it had probably been because of him. It wasn’t like there was anyone else around that could have done it. Either way, the skip didn’t feel like a good thing. Clearing his throat, he shifted away from her a little bit, though he still kept contact, hopefully making her feel less crowded. “Maybe after that, we could take a drive down one of the highways, or visit one of the volcano sights?”

Kira nodded. She turned toward him, feeling a little idiotic as she spoke. “I’m sorry. I know you want to have sex with me, but I’m really not interested in that right now. I want to get to know you better, first. I understand if that bothers you.” 

Derek held up his hand. “If that was all I was interested in, then I have no reason to be here.” He told her gently. “I would like to consummate our marriage, but I don’t care if it’s tonight, or three weeks from now, or three months from now. We got thrown together in really weird circumstances, and getting to know each other, finding out if we’re actually compatible, isn’t a bad thing.”

“Okay, but... I changed the subject, and you... backed off.” Kira stammered. 

Derek put his hand carefully over hers. “Because I figured I was making you uncomfortable. I don’t want to push you, Kira. I thought, if you were changing the subject, that meant you didn’t want to talk about it anymore, and I wasn’t going to force you to keep talking about it, if it wasn’t something you wanted to do.”

“I thought it was because you didn’t want to be as close.” Kira admitted, sighing. “I’m sorry. Again. I just don’t want to disappoint you. I’m not going to just do what you want, but still.” 

Derek shook his head, sighing as well. “You couldn’t disappoint me. If anything, I’m a little worried that I’m going to disappoint you. I didn’t realize I might have been pressuring you, Kira. I’m sorry, too.”

“I don’t think you’re going to disappoint me.” Kira smiled. “You’re not a jerk. It’s not like I’ve really dated, but I’ve seen rude guys more than I ever should have had to.” 

Derek smiled back down at her, then exhaled, leaning in to kiss her forehead. “Eat up.” He told her, and his smile widened. “We’re going whale watching after this.”

Kira laughed. “Okay!” She kissed him, wondering if she would be ready before the six weeks were up, or if she was going to be facing a divorce. She didn’t think Derek would do that to her, but she wasn’t going to hold her breath, either. 

Derek kissed her back softly, wrapping his arm around her. He hoped he didn’t screw things up.

Kira hugged Derek. “I really like you.” She murmured. She kept one arm around him as she started eating her breakfast. 

Derek smiled, and buried his nose in her hair, inhaling deeply. He squeezed her shoulders.


	21. Day Four: Erica and Theo

“We have to choose between spending all day at the beach or a museum.” Theo laughed. “You pick. I’m good with either one.” 

Erica smiled at him. “Let’s do the museum.” She told him. “And then we can just come back to the hotel and relax, you know? Maybe take a walk, if we really need to, or, ooh, go by the pool?”

“Yes.” Theo nodded. He wrinkled his nose. “I think we should probably take showers first. We smell like sex... and maple syrup.” 

Erica scrunched up her nose, catching a whiff of the smell, and she blushed. They'd gotten experimental with breakfast. “Yeah, that's probably a good idea.” She snorted and stood up, leaning back in to kiss him lightly. 

Theo kissed back, then leaned in to kiss her again. “Okay, we need to go. You want the first shower?” 

Erica felt bold when she looked back at him, smiled and said, “Why don't we just share?”

“That does sound good.” Theo nodded. “But I think they expect us to leave today.” He teased. 

Erica grinned. “I’ll move fast, then.” She told him, kissing him again before she darted off toward the bathroom. 

Theo was alone with his thoughts as he picked out a change of clothes for her, then got his own things together to wear after his shower. He was furious with Erica’s mom for treating her so badly, and he felt an itch under his skin to go looking for the woman that had abused his wife and make her suffer. Or die. He wasn’t sure which one he preferred. He knew that if he just waited, Erica would tell him where she used to live and he could find an excuse and pay the woman a visit. 

Erica washed up quickly - as quickly as she could, anyway - and made her way out of the shower. Modesty and leftover shyness made her wrap a towel around herself before she stepped out of the bathroom, pulling her hair up into a high bun after she dried it. Turning to look for her clothes, she paused when she saw that Theo had laid her clothes out for her, and she ducked her head smiling. “Thank you.” She murmured.

“You’re welcome. I’ll be right back out.” Theo grinned, kissing Erica before he went into the bathroom to get cleaned up. 

Erica squeezed her eyes shut, fighting off a squeal, despite being unable to really keep herself from grinning, and she quickly got dressed.

A few minutes later, Theo walked out of the bathroom, mostly dried off and nude. He gave Erica a playful smirk before he started getting dressed. 

Erica shook her head, giggling, and moved to his side, kissing his shoulder before grabbing his shirt and helping him put it on. Her hands moved up and down his chest, and she smiled up at him fondly.


	22. Day Four: Malia and Scott

“Beach.” Malia said abruptly, tossing that day’s card at Scott. “Don’t make me go to a museum.” She paused, trying to figure out what she was forgetting. “Oh, right. Please.” 

Scott started laughing, diving for her and picking her up. “I won’t make you go to a museum.” He tossed her over his shoulder playfully into a fireman’s carry. “Hope you don’t mind running around the beach in your underwear.” He told her.

“Try to stop me.” Malia laughed. “I’d go naked if I could.” 

Scott inhaled and nearly choked on a laugh. “God, I know you would, too.” He murmured. “It's gonna be a little bit chilly. The water, I mean. Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah, I don’t like the water that much, anyway.” Malia admitted. “I might just run around on the beach all day.” 

Scott set her down at the elevator and kissed her. “We can definitely do that.” He peered out the window next to the elevator. “It looks like it's actually gonna be beautiful today.”

“I might not like the water, but I do like rain.” Malia waited for the elevator to come up to them. “But this is good, too.” 

Scott held the door open for her when the elevator arrived. “Well, it’s Scotland.” He pointed out, smiling. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll get a huge rainstorm.”

“And go looking for leprechauns?” Malia laughed. “Or is that Ireland?” 

Scott squinted, tilting his head and thinking. “I think that’s Ireland. I’m pretty sure Scotland has just got, like… the rain, and the lake monster thing, and those giant Cally stone things. And the sheep. And bagpipes.” He laughed.

“Oh right, the lake monster thing.” Malia imitated, teasing Scott. “We should go find it.”

Scott’s eyes lit up. “Do you think we could?” He asked her, grinning and not being entirely serious. “If werewolves are real, that thing’s gotta be real, right?”

“It might be.” Malia smiled. “I bet we can find it.” 

“I totally think we can.” Scott nodded and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Let’s go. There’s no rule saying we can’t visit different beaches, right? Lakes have beaches. Technically.”


	23. Day Four: Cora and Stiles

“Damn it.” Stiles sighed, but laughed because it wasn’t that serious of a concern. “We have to leave the hotel room and either go to the beach or a museum. I burn easily, probably even here. So... museum? Is it cheating if we take the train to Paris and go to the Louvre?” 

Cora looked intrigued, sitting up. “Can we actually do that?” She blurted. “That would be amazing if we could do that. I've always wanted to go to the Louvre.” She paused, then amended. “I've always wanted to go to _Paris_.”

“Then let’s go to Paris.” Stiles nodded. He got dressed quickly, holding his hand out to Cora. 

Cora grinned brightly, grabbing his hand and hauling herself up with it. She bounced in place and kissed him lightly. “This is going to be amazing.”

Stiles stared at Cora, grinning back at her. “I love you.” He blurted. “I’ve known you since Saturday and it’s freaking Tuesday, and I don’t _care_. I love you.” 

“Oh my god,” Cora blurted, unable to hold in a grin. “I was fighting off saying it for ages, I felt like it was too fast, but oh my god, I shouldn’t even care. I love you.” She jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck while her legs wrapped around his waist, and she kissed him. “I. Love. You.” She kissed him with each word.

Stiles wrapped his arms around Cora, holding her up against him. “How long have you wanted to say it?” He demanded. “Since Sunday?” 

Cora clutched him, biting her lower lip and grinning. She nodded coyly. “Sunday was a _big_ day for me.” She told him.

Stiles laughed. “Holy god. Okay.” He nodded. “Me too, but I thought it might come across as being too casual or something if I said it that early.” 

Cora giggled. “Stiles, I could feel the sparks between us the minute we took the blindfolds off. I don’t think there _was_ such a thing as too early.”


	24. Day Four: Derek and Kira

“Do you want to spend today at the beach or a museum?” Kira asked Derek, showing that day’s card to him. “We did what I wanted, yesterday.” Before she realized she was doing it, she sat down on his lap, putting her arms around his shoulders. 

Derek scooped her up, pulling her closer without even thinking about it, tilting his head and looking thoughtful. “I think either would be okay. I like museums. But we're from California.” He laughed. “The beach is in our blood. I can go any time.”

“I want to see the Iolani Palace.” Kira smiled. “I don’t feel like looking at art today, it just seems like it would make me want to start working. I can get kind of crazy about work.” 

Derek grinned. “I was going to suggest the palace to you yesterday. I'm glad we didn't end up going.” He dropped a kiss on her shoulder.

Kira leaned against Derek and kissed him. “You’re being amazing. I want you to know that I _am_ paying attention.” 

Derek’s ears reddened, and he huffed out a soft laugh, kissing her back. “Well… you’re amazing, too.” He murmured, hugging her.

Kira found herself constantly gauging her reaction to Derek. She had a feeling they would end up sleeping together before they left Hawaii, but she was also a little scared that she would back out at the last second. “I really like you.” She knew she was saying it a lot, but she meant it. 

Derek looked down at her, then took her hand and kissed it softly. “I really like you, too, Kira.” He murmured with a soft smile.

Kira got up a moment later, putting her sneakers on and brushing her hair. She didn’t take very long to get ready, and she waited by the door, laughing a little at herself for being so eager to leave for the day. 

Derek followed his wife with a smile, dressed casually with boots on his feet. Unable to help himself, he ducked down low and picked Kira up with one arm before he laughed and opened the door to leave.

Kira giggled, wrapping her arms around Derek as she was carried out of the room.


	25. Day Four: Jackson and Lydia

"Day four. Choose between a day at the beach or a day at a museum.” Lydia glanced up at Jackson. “Beach.” 

Jackson laughed. “Beach.” He agreed. “If I can hold off going to a museum, I will. I don’t mind ‘em, but I’ll definitely pick ‘em last.”

“I like them normally.” Lydia grinned. “But not on a honeymoon. I’m not here to learn. I’m here to have fun.” 

“Hear, hear.” Jackson murmured, leaning forward and kissing her. “Let’s get our things ready and go, hmm?”

“Okay.” Lydia changed into a navy blue bikini, pulling her hair up into a bun and putting her sunglasses on. She put on a pair of ballet slippers and grabbed a towel from the bathroom. 

Jackson stared at her as she moved past him. “On second thought, we might not make it out of this hotel room.” He told her, grinning as he playfully lunged for her. 

Lydia laughed, bringing a hand up to press against his shoulder, holding him back a little. “After we get back.” 

Jackson grabbed the hand on his shoulder and turned it over, kissing her palm. “After we get back.” He agreed, and then tugged her to him as he moved toward the drawers. “What shorts should I wear?”

“Do you have anything in navy blue?” Lydia teased. 

Jackson tickled her side. “I don't, actually. Lots of black. Some white. Gray. I've got these, though.” He grimaced a little, lifting a pair of black shorts with dark blue designs. 

“Wear them.” Lydia smiled as she looked at him, but her playful expression gave way to one of concern. “Wait, why do you look like you’re in pain?” 

Jackson smiled at her. “It’s nothing. My leg’s aching a little bit, but it isn’t like I’m going to be running around on sand or anything.” He paused, then said pleadingly, “Don’t make me chase you on sand, I’ll go down like a ton of bricks.”

“I won’t.” Lydia said earnestly. “If your leg hurts, we could just sit down together and talk or read, whatever. Should you even be walking on sand?” 

Jackson furrowed his brow, and then shrugged. “Well, I do in California, and it hasn’t bothered me too much before. As long as I don’t get super active, I think I should be okay.” He stared at her for a moment, and then smiled at her, reaching up to cup her face. “You’re amazing. You know that?”

“Yes.” Lydia laughed. “I just don’t want you to get hurt. Unless I’m the one hurting you, anyway. I was prepared to make you sorry for not keeping your hands to yourself, if you weren’t going to listen. But you really aren’t the way that Allison made you sound.” 

Jackson looked a little bit guilty at the mention of Allison’s name. “I may have… gone overboard and acted out with Allison.” He sighed. “Honestly? I know people. I know what people want. My dad slept with a woman in broadcasting and production when he cheated on my mother. He brought her home a lot when my mom wasn’t there. She talked about it a lot, the sort of thing people wanted to see on tv.” He rubbed at his nose a little. “I took it to heart. I was a kid, then, you know? Maybe seven or eight? She talked about how actors basically turn themselves into other people for a role. That’s basically what I did all through middle school and high school. I turned myself into someone else when I was there, and took off the mask and became me again at home, when I was alone.” He looked a little more guilty then. “I sort of… let Allison have the full blown experience.” Raising his eyes to look at Lydia, he sighed. “I’m going to apologize to her. I promise.”

Lydia got her phone out of her purse and handed it to Jackson. “I know it’s not in person, but there’s no reason to wait.” 

Jackson sat down, looking up at her for a moment, before he took the phone and nodded. He reached for her hand with his free one, searched for Allison’s number, and dialed it.


	26. Day Four: Danny and Allison

Danny shook Allison’s shoulder to wake her up. It was nearly ten and they had to make a decision and leave soon. He had tried to let her sleep as long as he could, but he didn’t want them to be set back another day. “Hey, Ally. We need to decide between spending today at the beach or a museum. Of course, we don’t actually have beaches out here, but there are indoor pools near here.” 

Allison rubbed at her eyes and sat up to look at him. She smiled faintly. “Are there even any museums out here?” She giggled. “I don't mind either one, but I am pretty pale, so if we pick our ‘beach’ option, don't let me forget sunscreen.”

Danny laughed. “You need coffee, don’t you? There aren’t any beaches here, we’re in the desert. By beach, the best we can hope for is an indoor pool.” He repeated. “They probably should have thought of that when they were making up things for us to do. I think everyone else has a beach nearby, but us.” He was doing a search for museums as he spoke. “Oh, god. Allison. There’s a mob museum out here. I want to go.” 

“A mob museum?” She sat up straight, looking intrigued. “I’m definitely up for that. And, hey, silly.” She poked his shoulder. “I did say _beach option_.” She teased him, adding quotations to it. “I’d have been okay with a jacuzzi.” She jumped up. “But I’m definitely up for this museum thing. Ooh, maybe they have stuff about John Dillinger.”

“Probably.” Danny agreed. “I’ll call the front desk and arrange for a cab while you get ready, okay?” 

Allison looked at him in appreciation, smiling. “Thank you, Danny.” She said, and gathered her clothes for the day, heading into the bathroom.

Danny laughed a little at himself as he called downstairs to make arrangements for their day. He felt kind of lonely, despite Allison’s company, and he wondered what she would think of him if he went out for a few hours and found a club to spend time in.

Allison walked out of the bathroom with her hair in a ponytail and fully dressed. She gave Danny a small smile. She was grateful that he was there, really - at the very least as a friend, because she desperately needed those - but she knew she wasn’t what he wanted, and she wasn’t stupid enough to pretend for the viewers that she was in love with a man who couldn’t love her back. She couldn’t help feeling sorry for the both of them - they really hadn’t had any luck at all. “Are you ready to go?” She asked, tugging on her sneakers.

“Yeah.” Danny murmured. “Do you want to go to a club afterward? Or a bar, or anything?” 

Allison tilted her head, nodding slowly. “Yeah. I think that could be fun for -” She trailed off and looked down at her phone in confusion. “Lydia’s calling me.” Her eyes widened and she looked up at Danny. “Lydia’s calling me! What if something’s happened? Do you think she’s okay? Oh my god.” She answered the phone. “Lydia?”

“No, uh - well, I’m calling from her phone, but… It’s Jackson.”

Allison blinked. “Hang on a moment please.” She covered the phone as best she could and turned to look at Danny again, a confused expression on her face. “It’s Jackson.” She said carefully.

Danny sighed. “Put it on speaker.” No matter how many times he had told Allison that Jackson was actually not that bad of a person, that he had been staging his attitude to make Allison leave, she obviously still didn’t believe him. 

Allison stared at Danny for a moment longer, and then looked away from him, pressing the speaker button. “Jackson, hi.” She said softly.

“Uh. Yeah, hi. Listen, before you say anything else, let me get this out first, alright? I know - I know I treated you like shit when, uh, everything started. It was intentional, but - I didn’t mean to make you cry. I swear, it was all an act for me to get my way, and I feel… I feel really badly about using you to that end. So, listen, Allison, I’m sorry. I am.”

Allison stayed quiet for a long beat, then took a deep breath and sighed. “If… if you didn’t want to be with me, if Lydia was who you wanted from the start, why didn’t you say anything to one of the producers? I don’t exactly know how the show works in that regard, but some of them are…” She trailed off, thinking of the pink-haired girl, Elmindreda, that had been so nice to her after everything, and she smiled. “Some of them are really kind, and really understanding. Maybe they would have listened to you, if you’d given some input to what you wanted.”

“… I didn’t think about that. I didn’t really think they would. We weren’t supposed to have met each other before the weddings.”

“But the majority of us are all from the same towns, or nearby at the very least.” Allison pointed out. “If we hadn’t met backstage, there was always the chance that we could have met each other in our home towns.” She stopped talking, and sighed. “What’s done is done, though. I’m… assuming you’re happy, now?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am. But - really. I _am_ sorry for the way I treated you. I know it was shitty. You got caught in the crossfire.”

Allison softened. “Yeah, well… I know I… probably made you miserable, too.” She flushed, looking embarrassed, despite the fact that the only person who could see her was Danny. “I’m… I’m sorry about chomping down on your lip. I hope it’s healing okay.”

There was the hint of a smile in Jackson’s voice. “I’ve got a good caretaker. It’s healing fine. Thanks.” A pause. “You didn’t exactly make me happy, but I wasn’t miserable, Allison. You just… I had my mind set on one person, and it wasn’t you. I’m sorry about that. If it was, I would have treated you better.”

Allison ducked her head down, staring at the phone. She closed her eyes, biting her lower lip and bringing a hand up to wipe at the sudden moisture clinging to her eyelashes. “Thank you.” She said quietly. “I hope everything works out for you two, Jackson, Lydia.”

“Thank you.” Lydia replied, laughing a little. “You two don’t even have a beach to go to. Did they give you different options?” 

“No, they didn’t.” Danny handed Allison a tissue. “We’re going to a museum. We were just about to leave when you called.” 

Allison took the tissue gratefully, wiping at her eyes. “The only other option we’ve got is a pool. Pretty sure they didn’t think this one through all the way.” She murmured.

“Well. If you were headed out, then - we’ll let you go.” Jackson said. “Listen, though, um - don’t be strangers. Danny, I expect you to be calling me more often. And… Allison, if you want to talk to Lydia, or… maybe even me, then, we’ll be there, alright? We’re just a phone call away.”

Allison smiled wetly. “Understood.” She replied.


	27. Day Five: Stiles and Cora

Stiles read over that day’s instructions, telling him and Cora that they had to go to the beach. He rolled over in bed and put his arm around his wife, sighing. “I like it here.” They had ended up staying in Paris overnight, and he didn’t want to leave the bed. But it wasn’t like that was any different from their hotel in London. “We’re supposed to go to the beach today.” 

Cora purred softly as she turned to face Stiles and hid her face in his chest. “We can go to the beach.” She murmured, and then blinked at the envelope. “What the hell, when did that get here?” Her eyes bulged. “They didn’t sneak into our room, did they?”

“At this point, I think it’s only reasonable to think that’s exactly what they’ve been doing.” Stiles murmured. “But they have room keys to our rooms, anyway.” 

Cora scrunched her nose up. “That’s just creepy.” She leaned in and kissed him a moment later. “And now I’m over it. Beach time? Do you have any destination in particular, like staying in France, or heading back to London?”

“I figure if we’re getting out of bed, we should go back to London.” Stiles nodded. “Since all of our stuff is there and we’ll be on the beach all day and probably exhausted when we’re done.” 

“Mm, true. Okay.” Cora yawned, and then smiled up at him. “Yesterday was a freaking blast. I want to keep doing this. I want to keep traveling with you, whenever we get the chance to.”

“Well, that’s not necessarily out of the question.” Stiles smiled back. “I’m not supposed to start working in Beacon Hills for a few more months. I mean, I know we haven’t talked too seriously about where we’re living, but that’s my home and honestly, the idea of being a cop in Los Angeles freaks me out.” 

Cora looked thoughtful. “Beacon Hills is north, right? Like, as far north as you can get before hitting Oregon?”

“Well, as far as towns go, pretty much. There are others, even smaller than where I live, but they’re all in the forest. Miles of forest.” Stiles smiled, suddenly feeling a little homesick. “I think you’ll like it there. Maybe not the town, but the woods.” 

Cora gazed back at him softly, smiling crookedly and leaning against him. “I think I would, too. Honestly, I think all of us would. We’re only still living in Los Angeles because of Dad.” She sighed. “It’s okay, baby.” She murmured, tucking her head under his chin and wrapping her arms around his middle. “It’s only a few more weeks.”

“I can’t hide anything from you.” Stiles laughed. “Okay, let’s get dressed and get out of here, yeah?” 

Cora grinned and nodded. “Yeah. But just so you know, I protest the getting dressed part. The minute we’re in Beacon Hills and in our own house, it’s naked time all the time.”

“I’m definitely for that.” Stiles grinned back at her. He grabbed her hand and walked toward the elevator. “We’re going to traumatize Scott.” He paused, stopping mid-stride. “If he’s even going to live in Beacon Hills, after this.” 

Cora pressed the button to the elevator and glanced sideways at Stiles, smiling to herself. She swung their hands together. “You know, when I mentioned that we were all still living in LA, I meant all of us. Malia and Uncle Peter included. Like, we _all_ live together. So… if some of them move, all of them move.” She looked up at him and winked. “Get me?”

Stiles nodded, relieved. “Yeah. Well, I guess they’d better start buying up properties in the area, then.” 

“That’s a strong possibility. Do you have a lot of houses and plots of land up for sale in Beacon Hills?” Cora asked curiously.

“Nah, not really.” Stiles admitted. “Well, not houses. Land, probably. I don’t pay that much attention.” He smiled. “I’ll have to, now.” He frowned when his phone beeped at him, and he lifted it to look at the alert. “Shit.” He murmured, going slightly pale. The elevator doors opened, and he got in, keeping a hand out to give Cora a chance to join him as he used his other hand to call Allison. Hers was the only phone number he had for anyone in Hawaii, and the alert had been about a storm with high-speed winds. 

Cora frowned worriedly, grabbing his hand and stepping inside with him. 

Allison answered, blinking. “Uh. Stiles? What’s going on?”

“I just wanted to make sure you guys are okay.” Stiles explained. He glanced at Cora as he spoke. “Because of the storm.” 

“Storm?” Cora blurted, grasping Stiles’ arm with wide eyes.

“What storm?” Allison asked, sounding concerned. “Is there a storm coming here?”

Stiles moved the phone away from his ear, so he didn’t hear Allison’s question. “Call your brother.” He told Cora. “I forgot that you have his number. I don’t.” He held the phone up to his ear again. “Allison, you’re okay, yeah? You and Jackson?” 

“I’m not with Jackson - oh, god.” Allison exhaled. “It’s a long story, but Jackson and I are annulled, and Lydia and I switched places. She’s in Hawaii, and I’m in Vegas with Danny. Stiles, what’s going on in Hawaii? I just talked to Jackson and Lydia yesterday, it sounded like everything was okay. What storm is this?”

“The winds are like, ninety miles an hour. Maybe a hundred.” Stiles frowned. “Wait, _Lydia_ is in Hawaii?” He knew how he sounded, but he would deal with it later. “Allison, I’m hanging up. Glad you’re okay.” He hung up on her and called Lydia, walking out of the elevator when it got to the ground floor. He turned to wait for Cora, trying to stay calm. He knew that just because there was a storm there, that didn’t mean that people he knew were necessarily in danger. But the thought of losing more people he knew and cared about made him feel sick. 

Cora was shakily dialing her brother’s number, following after Stiles and sticking close to his side. “Come on, bro, pick up, pick up.” She muttered. “Derek, _pick up the phone._ ” She looked at her husband. “Anything?”

Stiles shook his head. “Maybe they both had to run and left their phones?” He snorted, biting his lip as he tried to think of what to do. “I can’t... I can’t go anywhere until I know they’re okay. I mean, back to London, yeah. But I’m going to be a wreck on the train.” He tried calling Lydia a second time. 

“Stiles?” Lydia answered, sounding a little out of breath and confused. “How did you know to call me?” 

“I called Allison, first.” Stiles admitted. “She told me you two switched husbands. Not important. Are you somewhere safe?” 

“Yeah, we’re at a convention center. The production crew is here, too. And Kira and Derek.” 

“Hold on, say that again.” Stiles put the phone on speaker and reached for Cora’s hand.

“I said we’re here with the crew and Kira and Derek. We were on our way to a museum when we had to reroute the van. And they were going to the beach and ended up coming in almost right behind us. We’re okay.” Lydia repeated. 

Cora leaned over Stiles’ shoulder. “Tell my stupid ass brother to pick up his phone!” She called to Lydia. “I mean - thank god he’s okay.”

Stiles kissed Cora softly as Lydia could be heard, telling Derek to answer his phone. 

Cora leaned against him to kiss him back, and then startled when Derek’s voice came over the phone. She cupped Stiles’ face briefly as she lifted the phone to her ear, and then stepped away to speak with her brother.

“I really shouldn’t even be on the phone.” Lydia remarked. “Where are you, again?” 

“Paris. We decided to come here and see the Louvre, yesterday.” Stiles sat down in the lobby and looked at Cora. “I’m in love.” 

Lydia laughed. “Good for you.” 

Jackson’s voice came over from Lydia’s side. “Good for who?” He asked, raising his eyebrows at Lydia and wrapping his arm around. “Also, what? Or why, I guess.”

“Stiles.” Lydia spoke before Stiles could. “He says he’s in love with Cora.” 

Jackson paused, thinking about it, then shrugged. “Yeah, I can see it. They’re suited to each other.”

Stiles laughed. “You don’t even know me, but okay.” 

“Don’t have to know you.” Jackson snorted. “You judged me before you ever even talked to me, I can’t look at you and your wife and tell you you’re suited to each other?”

“Okay, bye.” Stiles said quickly, hanging up. He stood up and walked over to Cora, putting his arms around her. 

Cora leaned back against him. “Should I call Mom, Der?” She asked into the phone, then scowled. “I know damn well she can’t stop the storm, stupid ass. It’s not like it would stop her from trying, but she’d want to know you and Kira are okay. No, Peter probably doesn’t care beyond saying ‘Don’t pull a Wizard of Oz and fly away’. He’d flip out more if it was Malia, anyway. Let’s hope she doesn’t go running through the wilderness and end up getting eaten by the Loch Ness Monster or something, he’d lose his mind and murder Mom for sending her off. Okay. I’m hanging up now. I’m calling Mom. Bye, Derek. Bye, Derek. _Bye,_ Derek. Be safe, dipshit. I love you.” She hung up and sighed, burying her face in Stiles’ chest. “I hate him.” She mumbled, letting out a laugh.

Stiles grinned. “I told Lydia that I’m in love with you and she said good, and then Jackson said that it makes sense that we’re together.” 

“Derek heard.” Cora said, flushing and laughing. “He’s happy for us. Wants to get to know his new brother-in-law as soon as the palm trees stop circling the island in midair and they’re back in LA.” She tugged him down, kissing him. “I love you. I’m scared shitless for Derek, and I’m probably going to be as big of a mess on the train back as you will be for Lydia, but I love you, and I’m so glad you’re here.”

“I love you too, and I’m glad you’re with me.” Stiles murmured. He checked himself and Cora out of the hotel, then walked outside with her. “It’s so amazing here, I think we should come back.” 

Cora nodded. “I would love that.” She murmured, smiling. “We’ll have plenty of time to do it. I don’t have any intention of letting you go.”

Stiles pulled Cora close and kissed her again. “I’m going to make everyone I know sign up for this show.” He laughed. “I should call Scott, but I figure if he doesn’t know about what’s going on, there’s no need... oh, well. Except Malia should be told, right?” 

Cora nodded again, tucking her arms around him. “I’m gonna give her a call in a little bit, I just wanted a little more solo time with you first.”

“Yeah?” Stiles laughed. “I feel like I should just keep kissing you.” 

“Mm.” Cora murmured, grinning at him. “Believe me, I’ve got no complaints about that.” She slid her arms up until they were around Stiles’ neck, and tugged him down.

Stiles kissed Cora, sighing against her mouth. “I love you.” 

Cora sighed happily in satisfaction. “God. I love you, too.” She murmured, bestowing several soft kisses on his lips.

Stiles kept one arm around Cora as he walked with her, toward the train station. “Do you have a middle name?”

Cora opened her mouth, then flushed bright red in embarrassment. “Uh.” She hesitated. “It’s… Wikimak.” She mumbled. “It’s Algonquian for ‘wife.’ My mother is a horrible person. I tell everyone I have the middle name Marian instead.” She scowled a moment later. “Derek’s middle name is Samoset. Laura’s is Nadie.”

“Um.” Stiles looked embarrassed. “Mine is Bronislaw. It means glory and protection, It’s Polish. It was bad enough before, but someone at my high school found out and started calling me Brony. Like, a My Little Pony fan. Which isn’t terrible, I guess. But that’s not how I wanted to be remembered.” 

Cora grimaced. “Your old classmates are asshats.” She studied him, her eyes soft. “Would you ever tell me where ‘Stiles’ came from?” She asked him.

“Yeah. That’s because of Scott. He couldn’t pronounce Stilinski, when we were kids. We were both in daycare when we met. So he just started calling me Stiles. And I liked it better. My first name... well, you heard the minister. It’s hard to pronounce, too.” 

Cora smiled. “I’m your wife, I bet you anything I can say it.”

“You heard someone mess it up twice, but sure.” Stiles laughed. “Mieczyslaw.” 

Cora scrunched up her nose, staring at him. “Met-chi-slav?” She repeated, squinting and cringing. “I fucked that up. I can’t get my tongue around Polish.”

“You can too, you did it last night.” Stiles grinned. 

Cora’s eyes widened and she started laughing, smacking his chest playfully. “I walked right into that one, didn’t I? Ass. Or Mieczyslaw.” She grinned at him, hopping up and down delightedly. “I got it. I got it, right? I totally got it. I am the freaking greatest. I’m the best wife ever.”

Stiles laughed. “For me, at least.” He bought their tickets when they got to the train station, sighing in relief when the train pulled up right away. He got in line with the other passengers. He didn’t pray, ever, but he hoped that who or whatever had been listening to his silent demands for someone to want him would now also listen to his demands that his friends, his family would be safe in Hawaii. 

Cora huddled close to him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder and sighing softly. “I should call my mother once we’re on the train.” She murmured. “And Malia.”

“Yeah. We can talk to her and Scott.” Stiles agreed. “I’m concerned about all of them, don’t get me wrong, but if it had been Scott in Hawaii, I would have probably had a panic attack. I almost did, anyway.” 

Cora nodded. “I get that. The second you said ‘storm’ I was ready to flip. I don’t think I was ever so relieved as when Lydia said that Derek and Kira were there with her and Jackson and the crew.”

“Not even when you took off your blindfold and I wasn’t a deformed troll?” Stiles teased. 

Cora snorted. “They wouldn’t have let you on tv if you’d been a deformed troll.” She teased him. “It’s shitty, but true. Hollywood likes pretty faces.” She grinned and cupped his face. “And you, my love, have got a _very_ pretty face.”

Stiles smiled hesitantly. “Maybe.” He murmured. “I kinda figured it was because of their concept this season and the fact that they wanted Scott and got stuck with me.” 

Cora’s face fell as she stared at him. “I swear to god, if that’s true, I’m going to tear the production team and the crew and whatever else a new one. Because you’re amazing. Anyone would be lucky to end up with you.” She scowled, showing the family resemblance to her brother in that moment. “But you’re mine now, and anyone else who tries to end up with you is gonna get my foot in their ass.”

Stiles laughed. “Cora. I’m not interested in anyone else. I don’t care that trading became a thing. I’m not going anywhere and I’m not sending you anywhere.” 

Cora smiled slowly. “Well, I meant after the show ends, but that’s good to know, too.” She tilted her head up and kissed him.

Stiles kissed back, pulling away in embarrassment when someone behind him yelled at him and Cora to move forward. He handed their tickets to the conductor and boarded the train, sitting down near the door so that he and Cora could get off the train right away.

Cora sat down gratefully and curled in next to Stiles, turning her head to peer out the window with her lower lip jutting out. She lifted her hand in a sad wave. “Bye, Paris.”

Stiles smiled. “We’ll be back.” He murmured, putting an arm around her. 

Cora leaned back against him and smiled, letting out a soft sigh as she rested her head on his shoulder. “I know.” She murmured, and smiled up at him.


	28. Day Five: Danny and Allison

Danny glanced at Allison when she was on the phone. Before she was done with her conversation, he was calling Jackson, worried about his friend. He knew that Jackson could take care of himself, but he just wanted to check in with him. 

“Danny boy, how you doing?” Jackson asked, smiling faintly.

“I’m good, how are you? I heard something about a storm.” Danny took a deep breath. “You’re okay though, right?” 

“Yeah, man,” Jackson murmured. “I’m alright, I swear. Lyds and I were heading toward the museum, and word about the storm came in and we ended up getting rerouted to the convention center down here with the rest of the filming crew. Derek and Kira were right behind us. We’re all here, man, we’re safe.”

Danny sighed in relief. “Good. I’m going to hang up, then. You should call Theo, though. You know he’ll be pissed if he finds out later that this was going on and nobody told him.” 

Jackson grimaced. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I just didn’t wanna bug him when he was in the middle of becoming a man.” He snorted out a laugh.

“Yeah, like he’s never had sex before.” Danny scoffed. “Call your brother, idiot.” 

Jackson laughed. “I will, I will. Chill out. Be safe, and we’ll see you back in LA.”

Danny said goodbye and hung up, then turned toward Allison. He was already tired of Las Vegas. “Do you want to go back to Los Angeles early? Do you think they’d let us?” 

Allison looked up at him, furrowing her brow. “I don’t see why they wouldn’t. I kind of… think I’d rather be in Los Angeles right now, anyway? Las Vegas is great, really. Very… bright. But, uh…” She trailed off and looked at Danny sheepishly. “I’m sort of tired of it.”

“Thank god.” Danny blurted. “I don’t gamble and I don’t want to go to a brothel or see Elvis impersonators. I’m done.” He laughed. 

Allison laughed as well. “Plus, it means we’ll be there to greet everyone when they make it back. I like the idea of that.”

Danny nodded. “So do I.” He got a folded up sheet of paper out of his wallet and called a phone number on it. “Hey, is this Stuart?” 

Stuart blinked. “Uh. Yea- yes? Wait, who is this?”

“Oh, sorry. Danny Mahealani. I’m the guy in Las Vegas. For the show.” Danny felt stupid as he explained himself. “Allison and I were wondering if we could just go back to Los Angeles now?” 

“Why? Did something happen?” Stuart blurted. “Oh, God, you guys are bored, aren't you? I _told_ them we shouldn't have gone with Vegas. I swear to god, I'm picking the honeymoon locations next season and anyone who doesn't like it can freaking eat me.”

Danny laughed. “No, it’s okay. I think I would have enjoyed myself - that we both would have enjoyed ourselves - if there was actual attraction happening. But we’re probably boring your camera guys. We don’t really do much. I heard one of them snore and wake himself up while we were trying to do a crossword puzzle.” 

“Oh. Heh.” Stuart laughed nervously, and then sighed. “Alright, yeah, I’ll admit, we kinda screwed up with you two. A lot. Um… Yeah, sure. We can cut your stay short and get you back here to LA. Hopefully there’s something around here that you’d be interested in doing, maybe we can get the camera crew to stay awake long enough for that.” He sounded sheepish, his mind already racing with trying to figure out ways to fix things for the two people that were stuck on the show with no attraction to each other.

“Actually?” Danny glanced at Allison, remembering her insistence that he talk to the producers about how he could help. “I was thinking, if you don’t mind, I could maybe help you. Next season. I know there’s a conflict of interest with this season.” 

Allison straightened, listening intently and smiling proudly at Danny.

Stuart sounded intrigued. “You wanna work with us for the show? I don’t see why not. We’re always looking for help, I mean. Maybe I can put you in contact with the show creator, and we can go from there? You’re San Francisco based, right? I think the creator’s got an office set up somewhere near there, I can get you the contact information.”

Danny grinned. “That would be great. Thank you.” 

“No problem.” Stuart said. “Go ahead and get your stuff packed and ready, and we should be sending you your new tickets in a half-hour tops, alrighty?”

“Thanks.” Danny said again, then made a face at himself in embarrassment. He hung up and looked over at Allison. “We should go pack. We’re going to LA.” 

“Good.” Allison murmured, then stood up and smiled at him, giving him a hug. “I’m proud of you.” She told him.

Danny laughed. “Thanks.” He bit his lip. “Did you hear that guy’s voice?” He asked quietly. “He sounded like he might be hot. I know better than to assume, though.” 

Allison laughed. “He did sound pretty attractive.” She agreed. “Too bad you haven’t seen him. Yet.” She nudged him teasingly, before she moved to the closet her suitcase was in. She pulled it onto the bed and opened it before she began to pack her things inside, her mind drifting a little. A tiny smile touched her lips when bright blue eyes and hot pink hair crossed her mind.

“What’s that smile for?” Danny teased. “Who are you thinking about?” He had kept his clothes in his suitcase, so all he had to do was pack up his toothbrush and a few other essentials. 

Allison flushed, looking up at him and letting out a laugh. “Um… wha - uh. One of the, um, production assistants that met me at the hotel in Hawaii, after everything with Jackson. She was just… really nice, that’s all.”

“Are you gay?” Danny asked, smiling slowly. “I mean, if you are, that’s... kind of hilarious. In a sad way. For both of us.” 

Allison smoothed her hand over her clothes, letting her fingers trail over the top of the fabric for a moment. She smiled faintly, biting her lower lip, and then exhaled slowly, nodding. “Yes.” She said quietly. “I mean… obviously I’m more bi than anything. I still have an attraction to men. But… I prefer girls?” She sighed. “It’s part of the reason why I’m on this show, I think. They wanted to see how a bisexual girl would do, being married off to a man or something.” She stuffed the rest of her clothes and shoes into the suitcase suddenly, zipping it shut. “And… it may also be part of the reason why I haven’t contacted anyone from home since we got here. I never really admitted it to them. I don’t think my dad would care. My aunt would probably think it’s hilarious. But my mom and my grandfather… I just have this feeling that they’d start railing at me, and telling me that bisexuality is nonsense, it isn’t real, I need to come home and marry a nice boy and bring him into the family and pop a million babies out.”

“Your mom and grandfather are dumb.” Danny shrugged at her. “Where are you from, again?” 

Allison smiled crookedly. “Everywhere. My birth certificate says where I was actually born, but I don’t know. I like just telling people who ask that I’m a citizen of the world. It’s not like I’m lying.” She grinned. “I’m out of San Francisco, most recently.”

“Okay.” Danny smiled. “That’s where I’m from. We’ll have to hang out, even after this. I’ll introduce you to people as my ex and watch them make awkward faces at me.” 

Allison snorted loudly, bringing her hand to her face and laughing. “If anyone asks, you could say you had a brief lapse in judgment, met me and we ran off to Vegas, drunk.” She paused. “It wouldn’t completely be untruthful, we _are_ in Vegas.”

“You should call that girl. Woman.” Danny hastily corrected himself. “Ask her out.” 

“Yeah?” Allison asked hesitantly. “I mean… Well, I don’t have her number, but… We’ll be back in LA, soon, so… maybe she’ll be there.” She ducked her head, smiling softly. “I could ask her face to face.”

“Well, what’s her name?” Danny frowned. 

“Elmindreda.” Allison said softly. “She has bright, bright blue eyes. Hot pink hair.” She grinned a little. “Way shorter than me.”

“Shorter than Lydia?” Danny asked. He zipped his suitcase shut and glanced around, making sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. 

Allison tilted her head, even as she looked around, doing the same. “Mmm… Maybe a little bit taller? Maybe even the same height.”

“What do you like about her, other than her hair and eyes and that she was nice?” Danny teased, carrying his suitcase over to the door. He propped it open and waited for her. 

Allison sighed, tugging her suitcase along with her, as she was feeling around for her phone to make certain it was still in her pocket. She checked her purse, and then kept moving, looking at Danny. “I don’t know.” She said honestly. “I never really got to talk to her, or look at her beyond that one time at the hotel. She just seemed so… so strong. You know. Take no bullshit.” She huffed out a laugh. “I don’t know if she would even be interested in me, but I just really want the chance to take her on a date and see, you know?”

“Do you want to call Stuart and get her number?” Danny smiled. 

Allison worried her lower lip, and then squinted a little at Danny. “That depends. If I get her number, _you_ have to see if Stuart would be interested in going on a date with you.”

“Fine, but he’s going to say no.” Danny remarked. “He’s probably not even interested in guys, anyway. Seems to be my luck, half the time.” 

Allison pointed at him. “You don’t know that. It couldn’t hurt you to ask.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed, nudging her shoulder gently against his. “Come on. Let’s give it a try.”

“Okay.” Danny murmured. He called Stuart again, biting the tip of his tongue as he waited for the other man to answer. 

“Twice in one day!” Stuart greeted cheerfully. “You’re really eager to get out of Vegas, huh?” He asked, laughing. “Don’t rush me, man, it takes a little time.”

Danny laughed nervously. “No, it’s not that. I know this is unprecedented. But do you think you’d want to go out with me sometime? For what it’s worth, my wife told me to call.” He couldn’t help making a face at Allison and smiling at her. 

Stuart sat back in his chair, letting out a surprised huff of air. “You’d want to date me? But you don’t even know what I look like.” He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it suspiciously. “Or do you? Nevermind. I… Yeah. Okay.” He smiled. “Sure.”

“Okay.” Danny blinked, surprised. “Oh, and Allison wants Elmindreda’s phone number.” 

“Minnie?” Stuart let out another laugh. “All kinds of surprise matches happening, huh? Yeah, sure. Got a piece of paper handy?”

Danny motioned for Allison to get a pen. “Yeah.” He was grateful for his good memory. 

Stuart rambled through Elmindreda’s phone number, and then repeated it for good measure. “Got it?”

Allison looked up at Danny, her lips twitching. She nodded and said in a loud whisper, “He’s really loud. I heard everything.”

“Yeah, got it.” Danny smiled. “I look forward to meeting you in person.” 

Stuart grinned. “Same. Oh, by the way, I’m almost ready with your flight information, I’ll text you everything in about ten minutes, and you’ll pick up your tickets at McCarran’s ticket desk, alrighty?”

“Okay.” Danny said again, then brought his hand up to hit himself in the forehead, feeling stupid. 

Stuart grinned again. “Bye, Danny.” He murmured.

“Bye.” Danny hung up. “I sounded like such a moron.” He snorted. “Okay, call her and ask her on the way to the lobby.” 

Allison nodded, smiling. “You didn’t sound like a moron, F. Y. I.” She told him, gripping her bag in one hand and rapidly tapping the number into her phone with her thumb in the other. She hit the green button and took a deep breath.

Elmindreda picked up on the second ring. “Allison? Is everything all right?” 

Allison let out a startled gasp. “How - uh, yes, everything is fine. How did you know it was me?”

“I have your number. Remember? I told you to call me if you needed help with something. Did I forget to give you my number?” Elmindreda made a noise of irritation. “Sorry.” 

Allison shook her head. “No, no, it’s okay. Really.” Her voice softened. “Um… I don’t actually need any help, but I _was_ wondering if… if maybe you’d be interested in going on a date. With me, I mean. Once we’re back in LA.”

Elmindreda smiled softly. “Me? You want me to go out with you?” 

Allison’s cheeks warmed. “Yes, you.” She confirmed. “It’s probably not professional or something, but, um…” She exhaled slowly. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since I left Hawaii.”

“That’s sweet.” Elmindreda murmured. “I’m still in Hawaii, but as soon as we can leave, we’re going to. It’s not exactly somewhere that we want to stay, after the way the wind was destroying everything.” 

Allison clapped a hand over her eyes. “Oh my god, I’m an idiot. I didn’t even ask you how you were after that storm. Dammit. I suck at this.” She huffed, forcing herself to calm down. “Okay. Okay, yes, I want you back here safe and sound, too.”

“Thanks.” Elmindreda laughed. “You’re not an idiot, okay? You sound nervous. Don’t be nervous. It’s cute, but really, don’t.” 

“I don’t usually ask people out.” Allison confessed. “I tend to get attracted, and then gaze at them from afar before I talk myself out of it. And yeah, I’m crazy nervous, because I sort of feel like you might be completely out of my league, but I really want you and want to get to know you. You know?”

“I don’t believe in leagues.” Elmindreda blurted. “You shouldn’t, either. How about if I make the plans for us and then all you have to do is let me pick you up? I know where you’ll be staying, already.” 

Allison let out a shy giggle, biting her lower lip. “I’d love that.” She murmured. “You’d know more about Los Angeles than me, anyway. I trust you.”

“Good.” Elmindreda laughed. “I’ll see you soon, Allison.” She hung up and called Stuart. “I think you have to fire me.”

“Nope. Can’t.” Stuart answered, grinning.

“No, you have to. I’m dating Allison. Or will be.” Elmindreda explained. 

“Nope. I can't. I really can't.” Stuart laughed sheepishly. “Be-cause then who's gonna fire me for dating Danny?”

Elmindreda burst out laughing. “Not me. Aww. He’s cute. Wait, has he ever even seen you?”

Stuart paused. “Nope.” Popped out. “But then, he came to LA under the impression that he was marrying someone without ever seeing them, so…”

“Well, he’s cute.” Elmindreda repeated. “So good for you. And good for me, too.” 

Stuart laughed. “Good for you, Minnie. And very, very good for me. I hope this goes somewhere.”

“You’ll be married by the end of the year.” Elmindreda teased. “I have a date to plan. I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up, tapping her phone against her mouth as she tried to think. Allison didn't like Las Vegas, and she had traveled all around the country. Other than that, Elmindreda didn't know much about her.

A text came in from Stuart. ‘Try an ice cream place, or a shooting range. Her background check says she was an Olympic-quality archer, and in one of the clips they sent back for us, she starts blabbering about ice cream.’

‘I love you.’ Elmindreda smiled as she sent the text. She started looking up ice cream parlors in Los Angeles that weren’t chain shops. She settled on Sweet Rose Creamery. It was her favorite ice cream shop, but she had been thinking of going somewhere new with Allison. But she felt like that wasn’t enough, and she needed to think of something much better. She bit her lip as she studied the map, then sent Allison a text. ‘French, Italian or Asian?’ 

Allison gazed down at her phone in the car, biting her lip and grinning. ‘Italian, for sure.’ She sent back.

‘Okay.’ Elmindreda hit send without thinking much about it, then wondered if that might come across as resigned or dismissive. “Shit, I’m not good at this.” She started typing furiously. ‘I love Italian food. And most other food. If you had said none of the above, I would have figured out something.’

‘I do, too.’ Allison replied, laughing to herself. ‘I AM French, so… I sort of feel obligated to like French food. But Italian sounds amazing right now.’

‘I could get something and pick you up at the airport with it?’ Elmindreda offered. It would be a little odd, probably, inviting Allison back to her apartment. But she knew that she wasn’t in danger, Allison had a clear record. Even if some of her family members didn’t. 

Allison drew a deep breath and smiled, then looked at Danny. “Elmindreda is offering to pick me up at the airport when we get back to LA.” She murmured. “Would that be a problem? Maybe you could text Stuart, and… see if you two can meet up as well?”

“I’ll figure out something.” Danny murmured. He felt like he would be pushing it if he asked Stuart to come get him. They hadn’t even had one date yet. 

Allison thought for a moment, and texted Minnie back. ‘I would love that. I just don’t want to leave Danny at the airport on his own. Unless I assumed something I shouldn’t have been assuming and you meant that you were going to be there to pick us both up. In which case, I really need to stop assuming. Or is there a driver that’s coming to pick Danny up? Or Stuart?’ She cringed when she hit ‘send’ before thinking about it. Way to endear herself to her potential date, rambling like an idiot.

‘There’s a driver that will pick you up, just like there was before, and Hawaii and Las Vegas.’ Elmindreda wondered if that was too much, but she sent the message anyway. She had a habit of saying what she thought, and if Allison didn’t like that, it would be better to know sooner than later. 

‘Okay.’ Allison added a smiling emoji to the text. ‘Wasn’t sure, and I didn’t just want to run off and leave him alone, but… I’m really excited to see you.’

‘I’m definitely looking forward to this.’ Elmindreda smiled as she sent the text. 

Allison sighed happily and leaned back against her seat, a silly grin on her face. ‘So am I. See you soon.’ She refrained from adding a heart emoji, figuring that would be going a bit too far before they’d even spent any time together.

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters will be short for awhile. 
> 
> Comments with suggestions will be used as this story progresses, so if you have something you'd like to see happen, say so. There's no maybe, we're using everything.


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